The Forgotten Edgar Rice Burroughs Post Apocalypse Novel - The Lost Continent

  

I was looking for some inspiration because I've just been told that I've got a game to run on Saturday. I stumbled on this novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Because of the release of John Carter by Disney everyone has been talking about a Princess Of Mars.
 However as of late I've been looking at other novels & stories by ERB. I stumbled on this one quite by accident.

The year is 2137. Two hundred years ago -- in our time, more or less -- Eurasia fought a war to end all wars, a war that meant, for all intents and purposes, the end of the Old World. The Americans managed to retain their civilization -- but only by engaging by the most extreme form or isolationism imaginable for two centuries, now, no American has ventured east of the thirtieth parallel. "East for the East . . ." the slogan went, "The West for the West!" Until a terrible storm at sea forced American lieutenant Jefferson Turck to disobey the law, seeking safe harbor in England -- where he found that two centuries of isolation have desolated the land. The damaged ship found a Europe that is no longer an enemy -- a ruined land that is utterly unable to be an enemy -- or a friend.
 The Lost Continent" (a.k.a. "Beyond Thirty") is very much an alternative history mixed with a post apocalypse premise. The premise behind this alternative history story is that the United States did not get involved in the "Great War" in Europe but instead followed its isolationist tendencies to such an extreme ("The East for the East...The West for the West") that no one from the United States has gone past 30 degrees or 175 degrees latitude for over 160 years, which means no one in America even knows who won the war.
 The novel reads like the HG Wells movie The Shape of Things to Come but this is ERB we're talking here. So of course there's action galore but its an anti war story. Written in 1916, it postulates a world where WW1 never ended. Instead, the combatants kept fighting for decades until they reduced themselves to the level of the stone age. Reflecting the American sentiment for non-involvement, the United States combines with the rest of the Americas to form the United Americas- a fortress of civilization barricaded against any contact with the world beyond the seas
 Wiki had this to say: The novel, set in the year 2137, was heavily influenced by the events of World War I. In the future world depicted in the novel, Europe has descended into barbarism while anisolationist and politically united Western Hemisphere remains sheltered from the destruction. The title Beyond Thirty refers to the 30th meridian west that inhabitants of the Western Hemisphere are forbidden to pass.


USES FOR THE OSR
 

There's lots for an enterprising Dungeon Master to use here. The novel is a quick read & breezes through a ruined Europe that has all sorts of interesting developments. There are 2 possible routes that one can go here. 

The alternative history route ~ Grab your classical history books with plenty of photos let the players be aboard an  aero-submarine of the Pan-American Navy of their own. Let them explore the strange ruins, poke around in the various places of Europe & generally have a great time. Simply use Original D&D, Swords & Wizardry, or Labyrinth Lord, Mutant Future & cut out the fantastic elements. 

Option number two use the Lost Continentant as a spring board for your imagination & use Swords & Wizardry, or Labyrinth Lord, & Mutant Future. Here you add in the magical elements & the mutant stuff. The war has forced Europe into a new fantasy age. The world has grown far more Moorcockian & the ages of Law are ending. 

                    There's lots to mine here. The novel features conventional guns, weird technology such as the aero-submarine Coldwater under the command of Captain Jefferson Turck of the Pan-American Navy, & a very strange twisted United States that none of the players will recognize.

 It worked for Star Trek & it can work for you!  The Omega Glory trod this post apocalypse landscape as well.  A summery of the Omega Glory can be found Here

Who knows what strange bio weapons are floating around in the air of Europe or what weird mutants might be lurking there ?
The novel reminded me of Michael Moorcock's HawkMoon without the weird factors that one finds in his books. The post apocalypse Europe is eerie & sort of haunting in a way. A place to visit for adventures but not one to live in at a long term capaign.

 The novel is really a blank Post Apocalypse canvas to do with as you please. There are infact several different places for support of this novel
ERBmania has the novel on line Here
The Ebook Here
A complete Summery Here

The novel is within the public domain & fully within rights to use. Have fun & watch the wild life! 

1d20 Lovecraftain Space Hazards Random Encounters Table For Your Old School Space Opera

1d10 Lovecraftain Space Hazards Random Encounters

1. A spinning golden pyramid containing the melded essence of 1d4 alien races joined in a spinning vortex of madness and insanity that will do 1d6 points of energy damage to any space craft within a light year. This spinning helix of crazied insanity will try to level drain and merge any crewmen encountered. Has 40 Hit points And an Armor Class of 8. 
2. An avatar of Cthulhu called the Dreaming Nightmare. This creature is a projection of the great old's roaming astral essence. The thing acts a symbol of insanity and will devour anything it comes across. The thing must be avoided at all costs. A powerful cosmic entity may be able to banish it back to the depths of nightmare. 
3. The Vortex of Thom - This vortex of cosmic draining energy is actually the mouth parts of a dimensionally trapped god that wishes to drain any remaining energy it can to free itself from its other worldly prison. It will drain 1d10 points of energy from any source it can per round. Only a burst of proto antimatter will banish this monster back to the depths of dimensional darkness. 
4. The Spheres of Thal - These machines of dust and darkness roam the cosmos for any star ships they can find. These machines are the scattered remains of an AI god now hell bent on claiming the lives of any it comes across. There are 1d8 spheres present. They have an armor class of 6, 12 hit points and attack for 1d4 points of damage per round using particle laser weapons. These things regenerate as per troll. Only stellar matter can burn these alien machines up. 
5. The Colour Out of The Interstellar Gulf - This level draining monstrous cloud is the size of large star destroyer and will suck dry anything present. The monster will then try to possess any remaining crew. The monster is able to travel as a small star ship. A burst of any proto matter may dismiss it back between dead stars. 
6. The Deadworld of Helas -This world moves around the universe filled with astro zombie warriors cursed by the Norse god Hela to wander across the cosmos prying on any ships that it finds. The thing moves across the universe at will claiming more damned for its silent waste filled world. 
7. The Spools of Thrusr'a - These relic weapons of a mad god appear strung between worlds. These monofiliment nightmares are only a molecule thick and able to slice a ship to wreckage in seconds. The things form webs made by alien robotic machines. These weapons do 1d6 points of damage to any ship flying into a star system where they have been deployed. 
8. The Worms of Gr'ura - These giant world destroying worms move slowly constricting worlds of vital essence. The worms of thousands of miles across and each houses 1d20 lesser monsters. The worms are 20 hit points each and can do 1d10 points of damage by expelling a chunk of stellar matter at a star ship. They each have an armor class of six. A nuclear war head at the right spot might damage a worm. There are always 1d4 of these monsters. They are capable of warp flight. 
9. The Eye Balls of Thesvru - These giant interstellar flying eye balls were the eyes of a giant god millions of years old. The gods cut the beast apart and now the eyes roam the universe looking for their other parts. Each 20 hit point eye has an armor class of 6 and can emit a cosmic blast of energy for 1d10 points of damage. Each eye will attack any starship it runs across.  Only a burst of neutrino particles can damage these creatures. Many ancient alien craft had such things on board. 
10. Space Around your vessel ripples and Azathoth appears! What will you do? 
11. The War Ship Of Cirus - This ancient preprogrammed AI Death God roams space hunting down any humanoid races it finds. It will only back down if worship with the sacrifice of the enemy's star ship captain! The ship is armed with xray lasers and particle beam cannons. Within its confines is the trapped mind of a Great Old One. 30 hit points Armor Class 5 Damage 1d8 per round from a mix of particle ray cannons and x ray lasers. Only a cosmic entity of light may have a 20% chance of banishing it back to the wastes of hyperspace 
12. The Monolith of Thel - This blue green twenty foot tall monolith spins through space churning out hard radiation  to any vessels it finds. This uncaring plaything of the gods will bath any vessel in Gamma Radiation and other hard radiations for 1d10 rounds before vanishing back into hyperspace. There is a 20% chance of it reappearing 1d4 rounds later. 
13. Constructors of The Great Race - These fourteen block long grey rectangles once belonged to the Great Race of Yith. They now roam the wastes of hyperspace destroying anything that runs across their path. They will attack with 1d4 point of neutrino energy per round and 1d6 points of laser damage. They will neatly cut up any ship that they run across. These ships will then absorb any wreckage and disappear. They are Armor class 7 and have 30 hit points. 
14. The Swarm of La - This swarm of nanobot nightmares is actually a one light year long cloud. The nano bots will dissemble anything they encounter. All the while they will broadcast praises to the Great Old Ones. These creatures only do one point of damage each. There are billions and billions of them. Anyone eaten by them will live on locked in disembodied hellish existence caught between insanity and horror beyond existence. Only a burst of neutron energy aimed at the central brain cluster has any chance of destroying these things. 
15. The Churning Horrors - These insect like beings are actually the space going remains of a once great alien race now locked forever within the confines of these bio synthetic horrors from beyond space time. Each one is a 10 hit point horror armed with 1d4 energy weapons there are usually 1d20 of these things encountered. They move locust like from world to world. They devour the brains of any being they encounter to add to their insane knowledge. 
16.  The Spinning Robot Nightmares of Trall - These space probe droids have been augmented by merging with the essence of a Great Old One. These monsters now wish only the extinguish of all life as we know it. These 12 hit point beings only wish to end their own existence but they cannot. Their programming will not allow such things to happen. They have an armor class of 5 and attack with mono blades that do 1d6 points per round when they hit. There are usually 1d8 machines encountered. Only a deadly burst of neutron energy to the lead bot will cripple them. 
17. The Trimplenx - This cosmic being is wounded any bleeds chunks of reality altering blood and gore. Each time this giant is encountered bits of him will attack your ship. There are usually 1d4 gore units. Each has 7 hit points and attacks with 1d4 points of damage per round. Should any reach your hull they will eat through within three rounds. After 1d4 rounds this giant diseased god will disappear and there is a 20% chance of him appearing again within the same star system. Only the Hymns of La can banish this slowly dying immortal. 
18. The Mind of Azathoth - An entire light year will be blanketed by the telepathic insanity that will spread across the entire star system. Each being will be possessed to do the most alien and horrid things imaginable. After a night and a day the disembodied mind will move on to spread the insanity else where. 
19. The star system is filled with stellar chucks of Great Old One gore. The entire system swarms with this stuff shunted out from hyperspace. There is a 50% of the stuff being infected with the most lethal monsters imaginable acting as parasites aboard this stuff. The flesh will cause 1d20 mutations to any being that has any contact. After 1d10 days the flesh will dissolve away from the local space time. Any star ship hulls encountering this stuff has a 10% chance of dissolving into soul screaming goo. 
20. A Star Spawn of Cthulhu is encountered off the port bow! 

World Without End A Post Apocalyptic Time Travel Movie For Your Old School Science Fantasy Games

 For the past 2 weeks I've been looking into a post apocalyptic movies that really doesn't get a lot of air time these days .  World Without End came out in 1955 and had a pretty solid cast to it. We've got time travel, retro future rocket ships, mutants, shiny underground survivors, science councils,etc. All of the fixings for a post apocalyptic buffet. 

 The real plot is very similar to  HG Wells Time Machine. Wiki had this to say: 

"In 1957, Commander Dr. Eldon Galbraithe (Nelson Leigh), engineer Henry Jaffee (Christopher Dark), radioman Herbert Ellis (Rod Taylor) and scientist John Borden (Hugh Marlowe), are returning to Earth from a trip around Mars when their spaceship is somehow accelerated to incredible velocities. They are knocked unconscious, and crash land on a snow-covered mountain. When they venture out, they discover that they have become victims of time dilation and are now in Earth's future. They theorize, from seeing time-worn gravestones and after their ship's instruments register heightened residual radiation, that a devastating atomic war had broken out in 2188, and that they are at least 200 years past that date. (They later learn that the year is 2508.) Jaffe is particularly hard hit, as he realizes that his wife and children have long since died.

After surviving an ambush by giant, mutant spiders, they are attacked by one of two competing remnants of human society. The "mutates" (as the astronauts label them) are violent, one-eyed surface dwellers who live in a primitive hunter-gatherer society. They have mutated due to generations of exposure to radioactivity and have enslaved the normal humans who dwell among them.

Seeking shelter from the mutates in a cave, the four men discover the entrance to an underground city, whose residents are the descendants of those who fled there from the atomic war. These people live in a high-tech, sophisticated culture. They are a peaceful group, led by Timmek (Everett Glass), the president of the ruling council. Underground, the men have grown feeble and nearly sterile, while the women remain physically vital and ready for romance. Elain (Shirley Patterson), admires a shirtless Herbert Ellis, commenting that the astronauts are "more masculine than our men". Deena (Lisa Montell), rescued from the surface as a child, falls in love with Ellis.

The astronauts try to persuade the underground people to arm themselves and return to the surface, but are unsuccessful. They are content with their comfortable existence.

When Timmek's daughter Garnet (Nancy Gates) shows she is attracted to John Borden, Mories (Booth Colman), a member of the council, becomes jealous. He retrieves the astronauts' confiscated weapons, but has to kill a man when he is caught in the act. Mories plants the guns in the astronauts' quarters, then blames the murder on the newcomers. On finding the weapons in their quarters, Timmek orders the astronauts expelled, but Deena testifies that she saw Mories hide the guns. Mories flees to the surface, where he is quickly killed by the mutates.

With Timmek's full cooperation, the astronauts have a bazooka manufactured and head back to the surface. Fleeing the deadly bazooka fire, the mutates take shelter in the caves. Borden offers to fight their chief, Naga (Mickey Simpson), in single combat for leadership of the mutates in order to save the non-mutated surface dwellers from Naga's threatened slaughter. Borden slays Naga and orders the remaining mutates to leave. The astronauts then establish a thriving settlement, including members of both groups." 

Using World Without End For Your Old School Science Fantasy Games 

 World Without End has a all of the trappings of a classic with weird mutants, science councils, etc. The film is actually rather tight and well done for the time. There's lots to mine here. The major cities of the world and their environs are perfect relic hunting grounds.  There's also any number of unseen mutant species and races running around. Plus the usual vault survivors and the science councils who seem to be all knowing and very dangerous themselves. 

 Then there are the ladies! Those show girl like examples of the human female. This has always bothered me, where the hell do those pretty females come from in these movies? For that matter what is up with those damn science council members? Why are they also such scumbags? The answer is actually pretty simple, their all created Eloi.

 The Mutant Future wiki has an excellent example of the Eloi. From The Mutant Future Wiki: The Eloi are a race of meek, delicate humans, who are the descendants of the social elite. Generations of having every and all needs taken care of has resulted in them becoming vary docile and hedonistic. They are also not really smart, nor are they considerate of others. In their isolated, well hidden communities, they live in a perpetual bliss of drug-induced fantasies and sexual orgies. In the wild, they are just helpless animals to more savage creatures, who see them as easy pray. Some industrious creatures (like Morlocks) would provide all their needs -- from food and shelter, to drugs and protection. The only price is that they are nothing more then human livestock. Do to their unearthly beauty, docile nature and willingness to preform any carnal act, they have become highly valued sex-slaves.

 Then we've got the science council here as well. They're a group of Hyper Eloi if there is was one. These folks are also from the Mutant Future Wiki 

Hyper-Eloi are a class of Eloi who have developed a degree of "super conscious." They are considerably more intelligent then normal Eloi, and they consider their own judgement and morality to be superior of all other races, but they are actually quite arrogant, aloof, and self-righteous. They may ignore the plight - the starvation; the brutality; the human-condition - of the outside world, but those that don't, would ether force outside to conform to the methods that allowed is type of Eloi to become Hyper-Eloi, or to exterminate the "animal-like savages" like vermin. In the later, they would rather breed a race of super-soldiers to carry-out the extermination, then to do it themselves."

You can find all you need to know about the Eloi over at the Mutant Future Wik Right Here 

 About those mutates? Simply another variation on the old Morlock template 

Here's a template for using the Morlocks as PCs right over Here 

 Please watch for inter party conflict Morlocks aren't known for  their charisma 

Among the savage species of the Earth of 2508 is the giant mutant spider 

 You can bet your life if there is one mutant species there is a who bunch of others.  World without End makes an excellent end cap for a Mutant Future/ Star Ships and Space Men second edition game.

A Quick Note On Gear

 

The gear of World Without End looks straight out of WWII surplus. Could there be another reason for this?  I've seen at least 8 movies from the 50s, 60s, and 70s that had this strange retro vintage look.  Perhaps these are worlds where conflict had already been a way of life. Much of the same gear is seen in the PD movie Rocketship XM. You can read about that one right over Here

Much of the gear is standard in both the Mutant Future game book and the second edition Star Ships and Spacemen book. 

 World Without End's Time Line

 There's something really odd about the timeline of World Without End.  As you've problaby noticed the time line of World  Without End is steeped in Cold War paranoia and fear. This is the same fear that echoed throughout the 50s through the 90s. Yet to me its one that might be glimpsed in HG Wells The Time Machine and the Geogre Pal movie later. Could this actually the world we've seen in movie/book Things To Come another Well's Creation? Could this time peroid be another alternative of  the same timeline? Details of  my thoughts about Things To Come can be found right here

 One interesting bit is that we've got a number of primitive nuclear rocket drives being used by those astronauts in these 50s & 60s movies. I'm reminded of Edgar Rice Burroughs Lost Continent. There were some really odd echoes between ERB and Wells in that one.  Could there be an entire post apocalyptic timeline that PCs might explore? Sure there could and you can see some of my musings on that one right Here 

 A random encounter chart for World Without End might look something like this.

World Without End Encounter Chart 1d10 

1. Tribe of Morlocks and mutants looking for trouble. 1d6 1st level fighters 
2. A group of survivor scientists 2nd level NPC eloi and 1d4 1st level fighter handlers 
3. 2 hit dice dire lions on the prowl for lunch. 
4. 1d4 mutant warriors looking for easy pickings. 30% of an artifact or relic
5. 1d6 hunter gather cavemen looking for food and pickings 
6. A group of 1d4 adventurers armed and on a mission to some ruins. 40% of a time displaced astronaut among them 
7. 1d8 scientist/warriors on hover bikes on patrol and scientific inquiry 
8. A group of Wings Over The World planes flies over. Forty percent chance of the planes 1d6 of them spotting your PC unless you hide. 
9. 1d8 Morlock raiding group looking for and about to go on a raid. 
10. A group of  1d6 psychic mutants looking for the ruins of a lost enclave.
    
     Using World Without End For Old School Games 
    
    
    Option number one uses the World Without End as a spring board for your imagination & use Swords & Wizardry, or Labyrinth Lord, & Mutant Future. Here you add in the magical elements & the mutant stuff. The war has forced the world  into a new fantasy age. The world has grown far more Moorcockian & the ages of Law are ending. 
                       There's lots to mine here. The movie  features conventional guns, weird technology such as the nuclear drive space craft  under the command of  the star ship Captain & a very strange twisted United States that none of the players will recognize.

    
    

    The Mega-dungeons are just waiting to be explored! There are possibly thousands of vaults and numerous  ruins full of weird tech, mutants, factions and God knows what else. 

Air Borne Monstrosities For Your Old School Fantasy & Post Apocalypse Games

Sometimes all it takes is an off handed remark or odd off the cuff bit by a friend to get your brain racing. I wrote about Ancient & Accursed Terra yesterday & what modifying out as well as the importance of tone in a setting. We today I was going over several of the options for my new campaign when a friend brought up how neat it would be to have air ships in this upcoming campaign. He was referring to our storied history with the Champions of Mystara box set way back in Ninety Three from the pens of Bruce Heard & Ann Dupuis. Its an odd beast of a box set but very much beloved by the B/X D&D community.



"Developed from the original DRAGON® Magazine series, Champions of Mystara™ is a major compilation of the Princess Ark adventures, a magical flying ship that explores the World of Mystara. Discover the heroes of this legendary skyship, their deadly foes, and their wondrous ships. Packed with background information and adventure ideas, this set allows DMs and players to run a long-lasting, globe-trotting campaign based on a unique flying ship.

Champions of Mystara goes an extra step and also provides experienced players with new rules on magical flying ship construction, operation, and movement! As a final gift, this set offers a Gazetteer developing the region west of the Known World, from the burning lands of Sind to the mysterious jungles of the Serpent Peninsula. A make-your-own world guide finally helps DMs expand the horizons of their favorite campaign world."

I still have my box set & the rules for creating, maintaining, running sky ships were easily some of our group's favorites in the past. But could these craft of the sky be adapted to other OSR mediums such as post apocalyptic or science fantasy?

So I'm zipping around the Mutant Future Wiki and come across their air ship rules there.

Along with several key air craft rules for Mutant Future . Sometimes ideas just won't let go and Dark Roasted Blend has several pages of retrospective air ship articles just brimming with inspirational art wok, photos, advertises, and more. See I have a soft spot for air ships because my grandmother once upon a time as a teen rode on one. She was very fond of them late into her life.

Then I start seeing all of the familiar pulpy fifties magazine artwork  influences & even earlier Twenties as well as the Thirties stuff. This includes this  Airship Skyport from the November, 1939 issue of Popular Science which would make an excellent adventure location or ruin for any OSR game.

Let me give you the scale of the sorts of engineering we're talking about here according to the article;"US Navy actually built two zeppelin aircraft carriers: USS Macon (info) and USS Akron ZRS-4. You can see them on the archival photos shown below: these tiny dots at the bottom are people!"
This sort of scale is very similar to the level of "Thundarr The Barbarian" war machines that everyone loves. In fact the Arkon was beginning to head that way in its design generation;"

"Akron" could carry four airplanes, "Macon" could carry five, and the further models were designed to carry up to 22 airplanes!... All of this found its culmination, perhaps, in this idea: "The Aerial Landing Field" from Modern Mechanix, October 1934

This is just the sort of technology that we see in Michael Moorcock's steampunk novels;"A Nomad of the Time Streams^[1] is a compilation volume of Michael Moorcock's early steampunk trilogy, begun in 1971 with The Warlord of the Air and continued by its 1974 and 1981 sequels, The Land Leviathan and The Steel Tsar.^[2] The trilogy follows the adventures of Edwardian-era British Army Captain Oswald Bastable in alternate versions of the 20th century." A future version of passenger luxury might be this extreme beast; "screwy-looking dirigible from Modern Mechanix (August, 1930): revolving spiral vanes propel it through the air, while the ENTIRE gas shell revolves around the stationery aluminum framework!"


This might be rich pickings for a group of post apocalyptic or wasteland adventurers indeed it could mean the difference between starving or gaining back several systems that a community could use to begin unraveling the secrets of this type of travel or military applications. That's when the real dangerous stuff comes to the surface especially in one of the weirder war machines that seems like it came straight out of a Thundarr episode. "Frank Tinsley drew this image for the 1957 book "Airships in the Atomic Age", including the interior for the Atomic Airship"  The addition of nuclear or atomic power is something that is going to affect a community or city across the board. The ripples are going to change the entire economy and dynamic of a city state or other post apocalyptic fantasy world.


So what does this have to do with Adventurer,Conqueror, King? Everything because once the atomic genie is out of the bottle then a city state's manufacturing base, market's, everything across the board changes. This makes adding in the atomic option very tricky and I've done it with several post apocalyptic campaigns. There is very little balance in games such as Mutant Future or even Apes Victorious, but a weird mix comes into a game such as B/X style D&D and it raises some very interesting issues. Given the advanced manufacturing  base that the Apes have in Apes Victorious and the Animal kind of DC's Kamandi have this type of weird technology would be right up their alley.

In fact entire quests and campaigns might revolve around the recovery, retro engineering  & manufacturing of such craft. You'd need to have some very solid numbers across the board. And we'll get into those in part two tomorrow. You can find the original article here.


All images and artwork belong to their respective owners & Dark Roasted Blend. 

No copy right nor trade mark infringement is meant to the owners of the artwork,trademark or copy right holders  of the original artwork nor Dark Roasted Blend.
None of the table top role playing writers,game systems  nor companies mentioned in this article are in anyway responsible for the content of this article. This article is for entertainment & educational purposes only. The ideas are my own and the content of the opinions are expressly the writer's.

Review and Commentary on 100 More Odd Items To Loot Off Of Bodies In A Post Apocalyptic Setting From Fishwife Games For Your Old School Post Apocalyptic Campaigns

Available right over HERE

There are times when a DM reaches the end of their charts and they need to stock the bodies of the mutant raiders  the PC's have just killed. They've reached the end of the tables in the Mutant Future rule book or worse the rules aren't handy!
What is a DM to do? The wasteland is filled with bodies to loot, vaults to break into and places to see!
Once again Dave Woodrum and Fish Wife Games comes to the post apocalyptic call with low price and high yield game supplements!

Here's the description from Rpgnow: 

100 More Odd Items To Loot Off Of Bodies In A Post Apocalyptic Setting

Beyond makeshift armor and assorted weapons, what else did those thugs/scavengers/mutants have on their personal possessions? Roll the percentile dice and consult the chart 1d4 times for each character. Some items might be of use, others not.

Samples from the list include:

01- 1 Eyeglass repair kit

15- 1d20 Assorted stick on decals

25- 1d4 Plastic soda bottles filled with water

30- 1d4 Tubes of moisturizing cream

45- 1d8 Packs of chewing gum

50- 1d8 Small bottles of kitchen seasonings

60- Cheap pocket LCD video game

75- Pair of classic canvas sneakers

90- Small USB cable

100- Welding hood

Page Count: 2 Pages (Includes cover)

Written By: Dave Woodrum


Using 100 More Odd Items To Loot Off Of Bodies In A Post Apocalyptic Setting
For Your  Old School Post Apocalyptic Games 
Believe it or not this is actually a damn useful little gem of a list. This list can be used to stock the bodies in a vault, those raiders you just killed, that weird convenience station sale person whose corpse you just found, those people in the remains of that hotel, the body at the bottom of that elevator shaft, and the list goes on and on. 
Lists like these can sometimes seem to take on a life of their own inside POA games. They come out and go away depending upon encounters but that's really the beauty of this one. Unless your players have a copy of it. This one isn't in the DM's mutant guide or rule book this one is separate and that means less likely they'll find out what's coming up in the artifacts. 
For the money, this is a good solid list for those times when you need weird little artifacts and gizmos that won't break the bank or ruin the campaign. 
For a dollar this fufills so many needs in a campaign. Not every find is going to be a laser pistol or energy cell. A Cheap pocket LCD video game can be very useful as a trade item or as parts for something like a home made bomb or other useful applications. 
All in all I was pretty happy with this fine little addition to my post apocalyptic DM's arsenal 

The Mega Dungeons Of LA For Your Old School Post Apocalyptic Campaign

You can find the original article right over HERE

The future is never quite what you might think it is and its been changing rapidly for decades. Charlie Jane Anders over at Io9 wrote an article about the LA's that never were. These civil plans make perfect fodder for an alternative 'Stars Without Number' Earth Campaign or a look into the days of the Ancients for 'Mutant Future.'

There could well be thousands of miles of tunnels running under the city just waiting to be explored by curious delvers and adventurers with vast store houses of materials and monsters creeping in the shadows of the city of LA. 

The LA civic center would offer any delvers a challenge with its robotic security guardians and robotic lifeforms. More Fritz Lang's Metropolis then from the pen of Frank Lloyd Wright. This place looks like it might have appeared in Blade Runner.
Could this place have been created according to the dictates of some twisted and sinister occult plans? Sure it could after all this is LA. 

The crowning achievement might be the Tower Of Civilization. According to the article "  Nearly 1,300 feet tall and built partly out of magnesium, the Tower of Civilization would have soared over the grounds of the Los Angeles World's Fair." 

According to the article 

According to the real layout of the city, so if you stand "downtown," you'll see Frank Lloyd Wright's vision for an "acropolis of the city," in place of the Civic Center that actually sits there.

 Using the Mega Dungeons Of LA These visions are incredibly vast in scope  of the city. Entire campaigns could be set within these sprawling megaplexs that seem to wind their way through the collective unconsciousness of their designers.
These cities seem to almost call out to adventurers. There was were two movies that sprang to mind immediately looking over the article. 

Demolition Man seems to have this sort of feel. And might make a perfect backdrop for a Mutant Future style game. Or even a trading location for a Stars Without Number campaign.

 Of course given my passion for the science fiction of the 70's. Nolan's Logan's Run screams for this sort of treatment.

These locations all seem to have a very definite pulp feel to them. Larger then life and twice as massive. Another option is to turn these locations into weird or occult based locals. Really turn up the sword and sorcery vibe. Or heighten the pulp hero for an almost Tim Burton Bat man feel to this location.
Dark brooding towers, weird landscapes, and strange twisted streets make this place an NPC unto itself. 

Another possible campaign option is to use the same location and expand it into different worlds ala The One Movie.
The locations can rapidly change,rearrange and allow the DM to present some totally different plans. 

1d10 Random Monsters In The Mega dungeons of LA 

1. Art Deco Robot Hit points 2 AC 8 Damage 1d4 on a mission to gather materials for its mad artist master are you part of those materials? 
2. A group of Cannibalistic Underground Mutant 3 hit points AC 8 1d4 claws. 60% of dangerous mutations. 
3. A group of explorers moving from one tunnel to another. 3rd level fighters and a 2 level thief in way over their heads.  They are being tracked by a Lovecraftian Ghoul family. Do you help or hinder? 
4. A mutant troll hunting for its next meal. The thing blends in with the architecture.
   Maximum stats because it feeds and feeds well. 
5. An art decor techno bird 4 hit points AC 7 Claws and Beak 1d6 damage is actually a scout for an entire flock of these monsters! Real nasty pieces of work looking for victims. 
6. An entire squad of robots looking for a fugitive who stole their religious object. Hit Points 4 AC 7 Damage 1d4 laser, 1d6 claws or stunners. 
7. An art critic delver looking over the state of the city. He is protected by a force field but he's actually a ghost caught between times. He will offer advice and critiques but nothing more. 
8. A remote probe belonging to a sorcerer looking to recruit some adventurers for a dangerous mission. The probe will follow but is unarmed for is scientific mission. 
9. A group of first level fighter/cultists looking for sacrifices. This a cult of strange beauty worshiping vapid fashion model types armed with chain saws just itching to start a rumble. There are 10 to 15 of these beauties waiting in the wings for trouble. 
10. A weird phone box style time machine standing by.  

Source and Support Material 
Maps and other proposed civil projects available right here of the vast underground mass transit systems that never were right 
HERE
The original  exhibit that inspired this article
right over
HERE

The Mega -Dungeons of 'The Floating Hudson Airport' For Your Old School Pulp Games

KELSEY CAMPBELL-DOLLAGHAN writes for the Palefuture blog on Gizmodo and while digging through her articles I came across the the idea for a floating airport on the Hudson River. A 144-block-long floating airport on the edge of the Hudson River, where planes could take off on the long roof and boats could dock at its edges.

The plan was radical, innovative, and totally off the wall. The plan would have been in today's dollars estimated cost: $35 billion

According to the article - "The man who owned the Chrysler Building—William Zeckendorf—was behind this idea to build "Manhattan's Dream Airport."

 The original article is found right over HERE

A Floating Palace On The Hudson of Alternative Earth  

Someplace out in the middle of the multiverse right now this incredible engineering achievement has been made. This is the same style of pulptastic universe where as well as Dusty Ayres, Super Ace of the U.S. Air Defense And 'Doc Savage' whose have saved the world countless times. 

 Here the airplane is king and air travel is as common as driving a car!  Because of the exploits of The Battle Birds. This sort of technology has been pushed through congress and even now New Yorkers are enjoying the benefits of such a vast floating palace. 

 This a world where the innovations of WWII is still going on and the clean up from the Nazi menace is still on going. They're just starting to clean the mess up. Anyone with a wood working and machine shop in their homes can or has built an airplane. The innovations are coming fast and furious. 

The multistory airport on the Hudson boasts every enmity from hotels to full blown dry dock facilities for floating planes and ships. The place is riddled with secret passages and incredible hidden worlds within. Places for control towers to full blown military staging areas. 

 Of course such a floating staging area is the target for a grand amount of targeting by terrorists, Nazi saboteurs, and many others. The amount of cargo that shuttles through the place boggles the mind.
Then there's the incredible developments in technology such as the flying wings, experimental planes, and even  rumors of flying saucers being held there.
Who knows what secrets the many tunnels, drydocks, and secret hangers really hold. Both the United States Airforce, the US Army, and countless mercenary air forces also use the facility. The place is also been the target of air pirates and worse since its completion.
 

The Floating Hudson Air Port has also boasted some of the first jets that have been seen streaking through the sky. Even Air Boy and his battalion of aces has made appearances. Once every year is the "Grand Air Show Of New England" this show boasts some of the most innovative and incredible technology in aviation.
 The location can also make an appearance in any alternative Earth's post apocalyptic New York sky line as a vault of incredible potential and possibly under the control of a tribe of pilots, and or flying mutants with deep ties to the past of aviation. 

This is work of fiction for entertainment purposes only and no attempt is being made to violate the copy right  or trade marks of the writers, artists, or innovators. The work is solely the work of my warped imagination. I hope you enjoyed this entry.