Tegel Manor - Worlds Without Number & Cities Without Number Rpg - Dragon Issue#258 - The Machine Realm - Campaign Update

 

So we've had about a week off from the Cities Without Numbers rpg Tegel Manor game. Really what this has done has enabled me to take a deeper look into our Cities Without Number campaign itself. And this led me down the path of Dragon Issue #258 from 1999. Picture it if you will Wizards of the Coast is on the horizon and Alternity is the new Science Fiction rpg on the blog. Bruce Cordell's Mage Vs Machine article was the hot button article. 

Imagine if you will that besides the undead and ectoplasm activities of a dimensional hopping Tegel Manor. Valley of Tegel Manor brushes against the powerful machine cyst nests of the Machine Realm. 
'The Machine Realm's technology from Dragon issue #258 is worth a small fortune to the right mage's guild or cybernetic corporation. Dragon #258 is from before Wizards of Coast took over the brand into the 3.5 era. So everything within the article with the striking Todd Lockwood cover is second edition Dungeons & Dragons easily covertable into Cities Without Number. 
'The Machine Realm' hasn't really appeared anywhere else in D&D terms. To us it's a realm of Law magic works there slightly. Delving too deeply into the 'Machine Realm' might be sure suicide for a party of operators. 

Kirillian cybernetic eyes & lens mean that even though the party has made it through the front door of Tegel Manor the ghostly  fun is just getting started! The PC's have  three White Feather hirelings that they've freed from the last version of Thundarr The Barbarian/Gamma Terra that they visited. 

'The Machine Realm' may be a bit too much to handle! But we'll see how they fair against it's machinations! 

Tegel Manor - Worlds Without Number & Cities Without Number Rpg -B6 The Veiled Society By David Cook

 "Dawn's light reached through the window to shine on the man who sat brooding in the chair. Cartha Radu, brother to Anton Radu (the leader of the Veiled Society), was thinking. "Today is the day," he said to himself. "Today is the day to bring my plan into action," Cartha smiled. Below his tower window, the cityfolk slowly awoke. Today was the Festival of Lucor. The goodwives flung open their shutters to the morning. Fishmongers and hawkers heartened their cries. Actors and jugglers filled the streets, up from their beds of straw in the stables." 

" On a dusty road a few miles outside the city, a small group roused itself. Some stretched their cramped bones, pained by a night on the damp grass. Others polished their swords and armor. With little ado, they packed their small camp and set out on the road once more. The excitement tingled among them, for today they would reach the city of Specularum — the home of their new fortune" 

So the other day I put up on twitter a picture of B6 The Veiled Society by David Cook. Now I've been thinking about this classic module for a couple of days. And there's been a crazy idea in the back of my head. What if  the city of Specularum was a part of an interplanetary society that has been cut off from the rest of the universe by some unknown indimensional event. Or alternative which we might go with is the idea here that the PC's from our Tegel Manor campaign find themselves with the manor shifting into the city of Specularum. The festival is coming up and the free familes are at it again & new prosepects are out to prove themselves. The Radu, The Torenescu, &  the Vorloi family are separate corporations and family run rivals who control the city. They each have thier own distinctive cybernetics and ways. The mega city has five thousand people within it's gates and is run with 'The Purge' style night of the 'Festival of Lucor'. The city of Specularum is situated within what used to be Italy or near the ruins of Europe. 
The inns, the encounters, etc. all remain the same because of the fact that atmosphere of B6 The Veiled Society was created as a tourist destination for the ultrarich. The fact that these families are at an urban war with one another has continued for generations. And this plugs into the ideas of Cities Without Numbers rpg cyberpunk asthetic. 

Our PC's are going to be dropped into the middle of the urban warfare as things are heating up between the families before the festival. Insults, fights, etc. all come into the mix within the city before the 'Festival of Lucor' kicks events off. And the PC's are put in the middle of this. And then there's fact that there could be a connection to The Barony of Horn & the events surround 'The Legion of Gold'. The PC's have the intel on the Legion and they have to escape the facility, get back to the mansion before it jumps, and survive the machinations of Tegel Manor. 

So this leads the PC's to taking on the machinations of the events of B6 The Veiled Society. And possibly forging new alliances. 

Tegel Manor - Worlds Without Number & Cities Without Number Rpg - Beware The Cybernetters - Session Report - Legion Facility

 The PC's managed to beat back the bandits last game session and found out that they were actually guardian  androids. The party tracked the Cybernetters to an unknown facility along the Great Lakes. And then we flipped to the other operators who were in the facility. They awoke in a cybernetic operations theater & they managed to free themselves right after the android guards came in! And they ran! 

This facility along the Great Lakes ties back into the one that we see in GW1 Legion of Gold! And the other operators who were crawling along the lake shore in the marshes ran smack into a group of muntant braves from the White Feather tribe. The two parties managed to come to terms fast in the dark just as another two cybernetters were leaving the facility. 

The mutant NPC's & the party then broke into the facility through a duct leading into the swamp. The White Feathers tribesmen are looking for thier breathen scouts who were kidnapped by the cybernetters. 
The PC's entered another part of the Legion's cybernetic chop shop and came face to face with innocent  mutants & humans in Cryo. The party also came face to face with a White Feather scout party who about to be turned into Legion warriors. The party managed to free them and get them thier weaponry and equipment that was nearby. 

The party's cybersneak and thier secondary decker Lunatic Leo wanted to jack into the mainframe of the facility to download valuable intel. And the rest of the party including the White Feathers thought this was a really bad idea. We had another player join up our party who was a straight up "Thundarr the Barbarian" style  barbarian. 
And the other party had been crawling through the duct work & the operators came face to face with a facility cyberworm! And this led to the party falling through a grate into another part of the facility. More Cryo stasis tubes and literally hundreds of frozen mutants. Here's where 

Issue #75 of Dragon magazine, 'Mutants, Men?, & Machines' By Roger E. Moore came into play again where the operators came face to face with several mutant species that they deemed valuable. Holograms were taken, information was downloaded, and then they were attacked by facility androids! And this is where we ended for the moment. 

Tegel Manor - Worlds Without Number & Cities Without Number Rpg - Arrows & Andies - Session Report

 The action picks up from the last time here on the blog.The operators in last night's game were able to track the CYBER-NETTERs back to thier base. Yet the party were attacked by bandits before reaching the base! The bands had the party pinned down with arrows and small arms fire! After several successful rolls & plenty of flanking the party managed to pin one of the bandits down. The party collected ammo, ID cards, money, etc. all from the downed bandit. And the party got the drop on the other bandits as well. 

The bandits scatteered after three of thier number were shot up pretty bad. And the 'bandits's were revealed to be androids! The party quickly stuffed one  of the Andy's heads into a sack and began doing recon on the base. Across the lake there was a huge fenced in compound. The nuclear signature of the Cybernetters led directly across the lake into the compound not to mention the Cybernetter's tracks. The party decided to wait until night fall while scoping out the base. As night came on they noticed the sound of thrashing down by the water's edge. Arnold another street samurai of the party came face to face with a Blindheim! The thing blinded him and took a chunk out before escaping into the marsh reeds around him. And then back into one of the inlet caves that was nearby. 

The party was panicked they had no idea what or whom had taken a chunk out of Arnold?! They quietly searched through the reeds & around the area of the lake. Nothing except they did come across a cave enterance. An they weren't about to go down there. 
A bit more searching and the operators came across a boat. Mac The Hand the party's mechanic and cyber operator looked the boat over and with several more rolls determined that the thing was sea worth. And then the party heard several somethings thrashing around in the weeds. 
They immediately launched the boat across the lake. And Cutter Joe the party's 'communications expert' immediately started picking up radio and video broadcasts coming in from the compoud across the lake. These were really weird and there was mention of something called 'Legion'. And that's when the strange glowing started under the base. 
The party was scared senseless about what be in the water. And this is where we ended. 

Alright so what's going on here?! The 'heroes' have gated in from another world into our 'Thundarr The Barbarian' through the dimension spanning version of Tegel Manor.
The Great Lakes region of this world belongs to another A.I. overlord who was/is in league with the Legion of Gold. 

'The Raid on The Simon's Farm' - Gamma World Second Edition - GW2 Famine in Far Go By Michael Price Side Quest - Session Report

 

We got together this morning in the local dinner & then ordered the 'usual'. And we did a character workshop between coffee and breakfast. And then it was over to Steve's house for a bit of Gamma World action. And in this case we were using events of GW2 Famine in Far Go. And the effects of the local famine on the surrounding countryside. 

The PC's after completing thier time in the 'forrest of knowledge' went on thier way to the 'Simon's Farm'. The Simons are a mixed mutant & pure human family of trader and farmers who had stocked up on the Fall harvest. They were willing to share this with our tribe. 
There were rumors of the "Knights of Genetic Purity" were on the warpath with the Simon's family. Once we heard those rumors we went armed with spear,bow, & plenty of arrows. What we found there was something else entirely. The farm was inflame and we saw a party of very well armed lizard mutants and the Simon's daughter in tow. Needless to say that our party ambushed the lizard mutants and let loose with arrows flying. 

Larry Elmore's The Raid covers the events of today's game pretty solidly. 

Artwork used without permission.

We managed to free the Simon's daughter and tend to our wounded 'Radioactive eye blasts suck. And later on we'd lose Cheeko green mutant warrior may  his story live around the fires. But we need to search for survivors at the Simon's farm.  
Note that we're using a combination of first and second edition Gamma World for this game mini campaign. And we will be intersecting with the events of GW2 Famine in Far Go coming up. 

OSR Thoughts on The Gamma World Rpg, Thundarr The Barbarian Cartoon & Dragon Issue #75

 "The year: 1994. From out of space comes a runaway planet, hurtling between the Earth and the Moon, unleashing cosmic destruction! Man's civilization is cast in ruin!"

"Two thousand years later, Earth is reborn...
A strange new world rises from the old: a world of savagery, super science, and sorcery. But one man bursts his bonds to fight for justice! With his companions Ookla the Mok and Princess Ariel, he pits his strength, his courage, and his fabulous Sunsword against the forces of evil.
He is Thundarr, the Barbarian!"

It's been a long while since the Thundarr Thursdays on the Savage Afterworld blog were a thing. The OSR was much better place in 2011 but that's water under the game table. The World of Thundarr Barbarian sourcebook is still available on the right hand side of the Savage Afterworld blog here. 

The World of Thundarr Barbarian sourcebook has been an essential part of many a Gamma World 1st & 2nd edition campaign. There's quite a bit that this sourcebook has to offer & the Mutant Future Wiki entry sums it up quite nicely; "For years, Thundarr the Barbarian was an iconic figure with many Gamma World fans, and continues with a number of Mutant Future fans (the recent discovery of the Kamandi comics is also becoming a major influence with fans). The mix of Conan-styled sword & sorcery, with campy retro sci-fi really appealed to such fans. Currently, in the role-playing community, this style of genre is called "Kitchen Sink" gaming." 

One of the most interesting things about the Thundarr The Barbarian cartoon was the ability of kids to see their own regions of the United States featured from Hollywood to such iconic places such as Nasa launch head quarters in Florida. All of these had a part to play on the Ruby Spears creation. And this was the same with first edition Gamma World especially in the iconic Gamma World article in issue #75 of Dragon magazine, 'Mutants, Men?, & Machines' By Roger E. Moore. 

 Issue #75 of Dragon magazine, 'Mutants, Men?, & Machines' By Roger E. Moore featured the Cybernetter & it's an excellent monster to follow up on the hijinks of the Legion of Gold classic first edition Gamma World  module; 

"CYBER-NETTER NO. APPEARING: 1 ARMOR CLASS: 1 MOVE: 18 HIT DICE: 20d6 (100 hit points) % IN LAIR: Nil ATTACKS: See below TYPE: Robot POWER SOURCES: Nuclear plant SENSORS: Standard, infrared, ultraviolet at 2 kilometers CONTROL: Only by a specific permanent cybernetic installation Adventurers in the Great Lakes region of North America have reported a new, apparently post-holocaust robot type that is occasionally found as far as 200 kilometers from Lake Superior's shorelines"

We're thinking of following up the events of  Legion of Gold with a bunch of cybernetters taking victims around the Great Lakes regions of North America. And there's a deeper base & think tank within the in land ocean itself built before the time of the Apocalypse. And now events with the Wizards have set into motion more cybernetic horrors unleashed across the lands of Gamma Terra. 

G1 Legion of Gold & GW2 Famine In Far- Go as Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Campaign Basis

 ""Far-Go is dying... the people are afraid... the animals are wasting away... the crops are withering in the fields. No one, even Arx Skystone, the high priest, knows what has caused Far-Go's misfortune. You are part of a group of young adventurers about to begin the sacred Rite of Adulthood. The last hope of survival for Far-Go rests with your party. On your journey to the Forest of Knowledge, you must search for clues to the origin of the mysterious plague. This quest may lead you into great danger... and great knowledge."

" As you travel through the savage wilderness, all you have are you companions, your wits, your strength... and your dreams!! This module contains referee notes, background information, maps, new creatures, mutations, robotic units and new rules for Pure Strain Humans for use with Gamma World Science Fantasy Game..."

So GW2 Famine In Far- Go by Michael Price is possibly one of my second favorite rpg modules ever. And to run this with a combination of Gamma World & Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first edition campaign. The sequence of modules that we'd use   Famine In Far -Go By Michael Price, GW1 Legion of Gold By Gary Gygax,Luke Gygax, Paul Reiche Ill & finally  S3 Expediation To The Barrier Peaks By Gary Gygax. 
The crashing of the Warden Science star ship & it's cargo of alien monsters upon a campaign world causes all kinds of havoc. Food stuff starts dying off ala Famine in Far- Go as the rite of passage for the PC's kicks off. 

This causes the Reaper A.I. to begin raiding & causing the legion to recruit rew members. The signal from the Warden science vessel then to have the cybernetic installation to go insane. And this is sensed by the area's android overlords who then act on it.



 The Warden's science vessel begins dumping monsters into the Duchy of Geoff an ally of the Barony of Horn. "Within the last few months, however, a walled town not far distant from the area, and four small fortresses as well, have been destroyed by mysterious attacks!" 
These could well be other fortress towns similar to B2 Keep on the Borderlands. In which the forces of Chaos has sensed the dropping out of the sky of the skyship the Warden science vessel. 

Events around the Caves of Chaos could tie into the idea of the party encountering pig faced orcs within the GW1. These various races of Chaos see the Warden science vessel as a 'star of Chaos' & this could tie back into the abandoning of the Dwarven mines in B1 'In Search of the Unknown'. Perhaps the very nature of   the Caverns of Quasqueton plays up what Rogahn the Fearless and Zelligar the Unknown were tapped into. And these two leaders of men knew about the famine coming to grip the land. 

Is the Reaper A.I. actually reacting to the build up of the humanoids within B2 Keep of the Borderland?! This brings up lots of possibilities for the forces of Chaos & evil within B1 & B2. The chicken factory within Famine In Far- Go is key to feeding not only the player's tribal lands but also the buffer nations within the Grand Duchy of Geoff & The Barony of Horn. 

Gamma World 1st Edition & 2nd Edition PDF As Well As Gamma World Memories.

 "Gamma World Science Fantasy Role-Playing Game is a complete adventure game for 2 or more players and a Game Master set against the backdrop of an imaginary future America. 

Based on one of TSR's most popular games, this all new edition includes expanded mutation, equipment and NPC description, rewritten and reorganized basic rules and a full set of previously-unpublished campaign rules.

Inside this box you'll find:
3 Full color Maps
A 64 page Basic Rules Booklet containing everything you need to know to go adventuring in the Gamma World.
A 32 page Adventure Booklet containing a complete adventure to get you started and step-by-step instructions for designing your own adventures and campaigns"

There are times when Wizards of the Coast surprises me & that includes today when I stumbled across Gamma World second edition available on PDF in Drivethrurpg.  My own experiences with Gamma World mirror Mike K on Drivethrurpg; "Despite my flippart remark in the discussions section, Gamma World 2e was arguably the best example of the game. In my opinion and others may disagree. And I'm not expert. Each chapter in the main rule book and adventure book are a clear and concise rewrite from 1st edition.

Robots were clarified and added to, as well as the bestiary section, including illustrations by Elmore.

The leveling up system from 1st edition was scrapped in favor of earning ranks in cryptic alliances and social improvement.

Everything in 2e is backwards compatible with 1e.

And I'll be clear. I'm giving the 2nd edition gamma world rpg overall five stars; while the pdf e copy earns one star." 
This all ties in with my own memories of using Gamma World 1st edition with Gamma World 2nd's box set.  The Gamma World 1st edition's scan is really good. 

I'll be damned if I give any monies in the pot of Wizards of the Coast folks. That being said this is a welcome news for the Gamma World fans out there! The Gamma World 1st edition pdf & print includes both a rule book and the setting. It gives flavor for the setting including cryptic alliances and some light details on world building as well as the history leading up to 2471. This means that the DM can use both 2nd edition & 1st edition together for campaign building. This means that Baron Jemmas, Warder of Horn, is gonna be available in the wilds of Gamma Terra as the adventure 'The Legion of Gold' kills off more adventurers & mutants. 

Gamma World Rpg Available
 Through Drivethrurpg Here 

Gary Gygax Day Mini Game One Off Session Report - GW1 Legion of Gold By Gary Gygax With Luke Gygax & Paul Reiche III

 

So its another year that Gary Gygax has passed & all of my friends of on their way to Gary Con. 

The Gygax family gets together with hundreds of their father's friends, colleges, admirers, & fans. Gary Gygax passed in '08 & like so many gamers I was devastated.
Back about '10 I was ready to make the pilgrimage to  Lake Geneva Wisconsin the birth place of original edition of  Dungeons & Dragons. Well, life simply changes the direction we take & my own father took sick with Parkinson's disease a gift from his time in Vietnam another life time ago. My family needed me & stepped up to take on more of the sewing machine repair service. I still haven't make it to Gary Con but my father is doing much better. But I still had to celebrate the life of one of the remarkable men who created Dungeons & Dragons along with so many other classic games & adventures.
I broke out GW1 Legion of Gold & contacted some friends about a game of Gamma World second edition.We had made PC's a couple of weeks ago for fun but it was time to break out the classic module to celebrate Mr. Gygax's life & legacy. I've run GW1 numerous times,its a sort of an adventure with a frame work of anthological  encounters woven around the hub of Horn. The GW1  adventure takes  place in a post-apocalyptic southern Wisconsin the very stomping grounds of Gary Gygax & the TSR crew.


Each of the players was a "pure strain human" army trooper whose been woken up from Cryo sleep way after a the Shadow Years & everything has gone. All of the PC's were human except for two who were mutants that had been mutated in their sleep by 'strange radiations'.
The game went very fast & very well beginning at 4:00 pm & ending at about 1:00 A.M. on Sunday. The marathon cost three characters but these were replaced by mix of more mutants from 'the Scarlet Army'. These guys were straight army commandos  from a classic Atomic era 50's & 60's monster movie. The Buggems  mobbed the  PC's but they  found some great  loot but the fact is that I was running GW1 like a convention style game. The players actually retreated & regrouped with the insect mutants!



The module is very well laid out & still rocked! The adventure & players actually provided the background & ideas for the Gamma World game world. There were some solid ideas that I'll be stealing! The game went fast and everyone's played in numerous Gamma World mini games of mine!


Gary Gygax Day's mini game came off without a hitch but there were some interesting things that happened. Because we used Gamma World first edition the PC's were subject to a lot of random pit falls, disease, etc. The exploration part went very well but some of the random encounters were quite deadly & GW first edition emulates late night classic Atomic Age monster movies a bit too well. The combat is deadly as hell & in some respects I kinda prefer a mixture of Gamma World first & second edition. All in all a fine weekend of old school play & man beware the Buggems kids!

OSR Commentary - Episodic Adventures & Quick Old School Campaign Design

"There is much to worry about in the mutated world of the future, but Baron Jemmas, Warder of Horn, has more on his mind than most. In recent weeks several of the outlying towns of his Barony have been wiped out by a band of mysterious golden marauders."


I've been mediating on Gamma World's Legion of Gold module & wishing that B/X Dungeons & Dragons had followed this adventure's example. Legion of Gold was written in 1981 by Gary Gygax with his son Luke and Paul Reiche III.

"This is the first GAMMA WORLD module to be produced by the Game Wizards at TSR Hobbies, Inc. This module includes the main Legion of Gold adventure, several mini-adventures which lead up to it, background information, suggestions for the referee, a special players' map and numerous referee's maps."
This module does exactly what it says on the post apocalyptic tin. But today we're going to be talking about the anthology location adventure approach of a Legion of Gold formula campaign set up. 

The sand box anthology approach allows the DM & the players for that matter to determine the tone & direction of their own home campaign. Legion of Gold has been my go to Gamma World module because of its short anthology adventure style. It gives the Dungeon Master just enough with a minimalist approach to the post apocalyptic material to get the DM started.
When we start talking about B/X Dungeons & Dragons these mini sessions allow the dungeon master to take a series of miniature adventures & string them together to form an over arching campaign. This approach has been something I've liked & used as old style television episodes in the past. Isolated adventures that form the back bone of an episodic campaign played quickly and with little fuss.

This brings me to the point here of Holmes Dungeons & Dragons with its dungeon of the skull mountain example in the classic rule book. I mentioned this dungeon to a younger friend of mine whose in his twenties & he had no idea that such a dungeon existed. Each room & location within the skull mountain dungeon could be played like a separate television episode forming an over aching epic campaign.

Let's take this approach to the next logical step with the Legion of Gold model then we could have a series of small wilderness adventure encounters which take the PC's from first through fourth levels. A mix of ruins, a mini dungeon, & perhaps an underwater adventures. Then bring in something like Faster Monkey Games Skull Mountain adventure which is based on the classic dungeon for Labyrinth Lord. Faster Monkey Games Skull Mountain was six dollars but all of their adventures & supplements have been free for a year or so.
Then your cooking up an epic campaign with minimalist fuss & you get to have a convention style game with an episodic set up.

I've done a rather long & rambling review of Skull Mountain in the past so I'm not going to retread over old territory.

Skull Mountain is a perfect stand alone location based adventure that can stand quietly off in a campaign world. Its ideally suited for a Sword & Sorcery campaign world such as Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea. Because of the very nature of 'Skull Mountain' it lends itself to the anthology location adventure approach of a Legion of Gold adventure formula campaign. In point of fact Skull Mountain could be used as both the final goal & big evil of such a campaign.
You as the DM don't have to write an over blown  or aching script for such a campaign, the players will fill in the gaps, corners, colour in all of the blank spots so fast it will make your head spin. In the down time between playing sessions the action & pulp adventure style will have their imaginations working overtime. The products of their imaginations will become your old school campaign quickly & with very little effort on your part but keep a note book handy.

Hyperborean Bait & Switch With Expediation to The Barrier Peaks (sort of ) & The Free OSR Resource Adventure From Faster Monkey Games 'Realm Of The Technomancer'

So what do you do if your dungeon mastering for a bunch of experienced D&D players who have seen all of the classic modules.But they expect you as the DM to pull out S3 Expedition to The Barrier Peaks to introduce that old school science fantasy sweetness into your campaign? This is especially true if your using pulp magazine weird fiction for your Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea hybrid game.

In fact I wouldn't use S3 Expedition to the Barrier Peaks just yet.  I'd save that adventure until the PC's  were in the levels of six or seventh  in AS&SH. The PC's are called in by the Duchy of Geoff to investigate a series of weird disappearances, so their going to be expecting S3 Expedition to the Barrier Peaks.


Instead I'd go for Realm of The Technomancer a double bill rpg adventure that has that sweet dark fantasy aspect mixed with the post apocalyptic wasteland vibe. It combines them very well and it short, sweet, and plants the post apocalyptic seeds into the players minds. This isn't a bait & switch adventure, its a dimensional crossover with some pretty epic results.
"Something new has invaded an important underground complex... Will you be wizards and warriors gearing up to save the gnomes from strange humanoids, or mighty freaks of post-apocalyptic nature hired to drive out the alien troops of the mysterious Technomancer? REALM OF THE TECHNOMANCER offers dangers, rewards, new gear, and new monsters for post-apoc games like Mutant Future™ and old-school fantasy like Labyrinth Lord™ alike. Plus, the TECHNOMANCY appendix gives simple, vivid rules for what happens when technology and magic try to mix, and the results are often not pretty..."
The Realm of the Technomancer is free and has some great encounters in it, a nicely balanced adventure that adds a bit of that wasteland wildness with a bit of that old fashioned pulpy goodness.



But how do you bait & switch these two adventures, the answer is very simple;"The Grand Duchy of Geoff has recently been plagued by a rash of unusually weird and terrible disappearance  of an unknown sort." So this set's up the Grand Duchy of Geoff as the perfect spot for the down space craft in S3 much later on in the PC's adventuring careers.
The key to getting this to work is situate the Grand Duchy of Geoff as some out of the way shabby, backwater province of Hyperborea near some of the mountains without making it too important to the rest of  the royal life of the Hyperborean capital cities.  Realm of the Technomancer does three things and does them really well. It allows the DM to connect the world of Underborea to a Thundarr style Earth. It offers a dangerous threat of an unknown humanoid race (one of my all time favorites) & it makes the underworld very weird, very unpredictable, & all in one neat package of an adventure.


Jeff Sparks does a great job with this adventure and it can be used with a wide variety of retroclone & classic old Dungeons & Dragons systems. Even though its meant for Labyrinth Lord, Realm of the Technomancer can be used with lots of old school and modern clones. Did I happen to mention its free? The down side is that its not in print at the moment folks.


Realm of the Technomancer
Is Available Right Over Here

Commentary On Cult Classic Movies, Gamma World 1st Edition Legion of Gold, & The Android Conspiracy

I've been thinking about & mediating on Gamma World first edition's Legion of Gold, why? Because last night I settled down with a favorite Curt Russell film with my dad, Soldier from 1998. The film was a commercial flop but its been fodder for gaming for my group for years.When I got back to Connecticut & worked in a Block Buster for awhile, Soldier was on the rotation for a Saturday night rental.



The basic plot is classic 90's action movie sci fi fodder here's the break down according to wiki;

"In 1996, as part of a new military training program, a group of orphaned infants are selected at birth and raised as highly disciplined soldiers with no understanding of anything but military routine. They are trained to be ruthless obedient killers, and all those considered to be physically or mentally unworthy are executed. The survivors are turned into impassive dedicated fighting machines with no exposure to or understanding of the outside world.
In 2035, at the age of 39, Sgt. Todd 3465 is a hardened veteran and the best soldier of the original 1996 infants, but his unit is challenged for replacement by a superior unit. Colonel Mekum, leader of the original project, introduces a new group of genetically engineered soldiers, designed with superior physical attributes and a complete lack of emotion, except complete aggression.
Captain Church, the commander of Todd's unit, insists on testing the new soldiers' abilities against his proven older ones. A new soldier, Caine 607, easily defeats three of the original soldiers, but Todd gouges out Caine's eye before he seemingly dies when he falls from a great height; the body of a dead soldier actually cushioned his fall, and he is simply stunned and knocked unconscious. Mekum orders their bodies disposed of like garbage, declaring them obsolete, while the remaining older soldiers are demoted to menial unarmed support roles.
Dumped on Arcadia 234, a waste disposal planet."
Seems like a straight up balls to the walls action film doesn't it? Not so quick, Todd & co. are just the sort of faction one might see in classic Gamma World in Dragon magazine. In fact, the film is deeply connected with Blade Runner;"Soldier was written by David Peoples, who co-wrote the script for Blade Runner. Peoples considers Soldier to be a "spin-off sidequel"-spiritual successor to Blade Runner, seeing both films as existing in a shared fictional universe.^[4] The film obliquely refers to various elements of stories written by Philip K. Dick (who wrote the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, on which Blade Runner is based), or film adaptations thereof. A Spinner from Blade Runner can be seen in the wreckage on a junk planet in the film" 

Is Arcadia 234 actually Earth? In Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Earth is one huge junk pile of stuff & mankind has moved off the planet. The androids lack empathy & almost but not quite seem sympathetic within the novel.  Within Gamma World first & second edition the androids are a major faction of villains implied in the game's timelines.  So are the androids actually behind keeping Gamm erm 'Old Earth' in a continuing technological dark age?



Larry Elmore II Gamma World

The cybernetic entities of  Gary Gygax's Legion of Gold are the main villains & motivators for many of the adventure's plot elements. Its an interesting old school Gamma World romp and a classic.
"There is much to worry about in the mutated world of the future, but Baron Jemmas, Warder of Horn, has more on his mind than most. In recent weeks several of the outlying towns of his Barony have been wiped out by a band of mysterious golden marauders.

These creatures struck from nowhere and vanished without a trace when their deeds were done. The Warder has decided that they must be stopped before the entire Barony of Horn falls beneath their onslaught, and so he is offering a great reward to anyone who can defeat the Legion of Gold."
Thanks to Wayne's Books for the Gamma World reference.





But could the android conspiracy also be behind the events of Thundarr The Barbarian's world as well? Let's see some of the evidence. According to Mind Menace Mindok episode a full conversion cybernetic body was built in less then twenty four hours by a group of Nasa super scientists; this leads to the conclusion that cybernetics was very common two thousand years ago before the world was cast into ruins. John Kenneth Muir's Reflections On Cult Movies & Classic TV notes;"In terms of 1970s allusions, the giant robot that Mindok utilizes to capture the scientists n this episode also has a more-than-passing resemblance to the police robots of George Lucas’s work of art, THX-1138 (1971)." That's a fantastic comment that stirs a dungeon master's imagination.


What were these cybernetic entities doing opening gate ways into space time? Summoning 'the Old Ones', opening a dimensional route for conquest, looking for alternative dimensional energy sources or all of the above. I'd say all of the above. They've turned the Earth into one vast junk world perfect for dungeon crawling & exploring  the ruins. Thunddar's world always reminded me of A. E. van Vogt 's  Empire of the Atom & The Wizard of Linn.Where a royal mutant child is given the education of a cleric of the Gods of The Atom. Here the technology borders right on magic & these novels are way ahead of their time. The Earth as junk yard dungeon planet sounds like a place that just might be a step away from the Boreas winds. More as this develops.

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of the films nor properties named in this post. All ideas are for a 
private table top rpg campaign. None of the ideas or opinions expressed 
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