Sci-Fi

Four Day Planet by H Beam Piper

/ jstater / 4 Comments

I just finished listening to an audio book of H. Beam Piper’s Four Day Planet on LibriVox. I’d never heard of Piper before, and really just picked the book at random from a list of sci-fi titles that had recently showed up on the site. Of course, that’s the wonderful thing about the internet – churning up all sorts of wonderful (or even mediocre) stuff that you’ve never heard of and serving it up free of charge. Between LibriVox, the Internet Archive and GoogleBooks, I defy you not to stay entertained with a computer and hi speed connection. Anyhow …

Four Day Planet is not fine literature – it’s not even among the better scientifiction that I’ve read (or listened to, in this case). The dialogue is stilted, the plot is okay as it goes – nothing ground breaking, but told competently – and the characters are pretty wooden. So why would I recommend it? Because it strikes me as a wonderful “gazetteer” for games like Traveler – a really well realized and interesting setting for science fiction games.

The “four day planet” of the title is Fenris – inhabitable by humans, but only just. It has a four day year, spending half of it as a boiling hell hole and the other half as a frozen iceball. There is native life, mostly in the oceans, and humanity living in a large bunker-city. The main industry of the planet is the collection and sale of “tallow” – a waxy substance taken from massive sea creatures called “sea monsters”. The tallow is collected by monster hunters, guys who work on “boats” that act as both submarine and aircraft – in essence, futuristic whalers. What Piper lacks in storytelling or characterization, he makes up for in a fantastical-but-believable science fiction world and universe.

If you’re a Traveler player or enjoy semi-realistic sci-fi, I suggest giving this one a listen or read. You can also find it on Project Gutenberg.

Deviant Friday – Yildiray Cinar Edition

/ jstater / 4 Comments

Cinar does some really nice comic work. I especially like that he is able to breathe life into these characters – make them vital and current – without needing to modernize or gimick-up their costumes.

My favorite X-Man – at least in the era I read comic books.
I like Captain Marvel almost as much as Popeye (which, if you know me, is quite a lot).
I love the joy in this picture – the love of beauty, strength and doing good.
Somebody needs to put a “robot fighter” class into something, somewhere if they haven’t already.
Few villains have gone through more costumes than Catwoman. I might like this one best.
And three of Howard’s creations (well, Red Sonja isn’t really, but close enough for government work)
I made a puritan class based on this guy – I’ll get to posting it one of these days.

The Unpublishables

/ jstater / 3 Comments

Just about every GM / DM / Referee, over the course of their “career” stats up monsters inspired by sources protected by that pesky little thing called copyright – monsters you can feel free to use in your home campaign, but that you couldn’t otherwise put in print. Well, instead of throwing out the next installment of the Gods of the Motherlands (which I will do tomorrow), I’m presenting my thinly veiled (one so thinly veiled that its positively indecent, and a couple others working entirely in the raw) unpublishables. Since I can’t publish them, I didn’t go to the trouble of making them particularly compliant with any set of rules.

Astral Knight
Astral knights patrol the dimensions fighting evil, particularly the undead. Their armor increases their strength and gives them the ability to fly. It can seal itself from the depredations of hostile environments, allowing the astral knight to ignore extreme heat and cold and the absence of air. An astral knight can seal its systems for a full day, after which they must resupply their air supply.

Astral knights have three special items they can employ, all of them being stored in a pocket dimension (per a bag of holding). All of an astral knight’s weapons resemble guns. The “neutralizer” fires a ray that acts as a dismissal spell against extra-planar and undead creatures or deals 2d6 points of energy damage against normal corporeal creatures. The analyzer fires a ray that acts as both a true seeing and know alignment spell. The universal translator acts as a tongues spell when held by an astral knight and pointed at a speaking creature. Astral knights speak the cosmic tongue and their alignment language.

If stripped of their armor, they lose all access to their abilities and are merely humanoid warriors with 2 hit dice.

| Astral Knight: HD 4+1; AC -1 [20]; Atk 1 slam (1d6) or 1 weapon; Move 12 (Fly 24); Save 13; CL/XP 5/240; Special: Sealed system, special items.

Astral Ninja
Astral ninjas are descended from elves enslaved millenia ago by the alien thulids, from whom they long ago won their freedom. They are related to the astral pirates, with whom they war constantly. The astral ninjas are governed by an undying wizard-king. Being monastic creatures, the astral ninjas use very plain weapons and equipment. They maintain a few strongholds in the material plane. These squat towers are quite strong, being constructed of adamantine and housing 500 ninja. Astral ninjas are rarely encountered outside their strongholds.

Outside of their strongholds, most astral ninjas are encountered in groups of four. Each of these groups will consist of two astral ninjas, a warlock and a sensei.

Temporary lairs will contain 1d10+10 astral ninjas, 8 warlocks, and 2 sensei. Astral ninja lairs will contain 2d8 magic items.

Silver Sword: Silver swords are powerful magical weapons employed by both astral ninjas and astral pirates. Silver swords are +3 two-handed swords, which, if used astrally, have a 20% chance each round of cutting the silver cord (does not affect psionicists using psychic defense). The supreme leaders use more powerful versions of this weapon that are +5, vorpal, and can cut the silver cords of psychics using psychic defense.

| Astral Ninja: HD 2; AC 6 [13]; Atk 1 two-handed sword (2d6); Move 15; Save 16; CL/XP 4/120; Special: 50% magic resistance, powers (mind blast, obfuscation, telekinesis).

| Warlock: HD 5; AC 4 [15]; Atk 1 two-handed sword (2d6); Move 15; Save 13; CL/XP 9/1100; Special: 50% MR, powers (mind blast, obfuscation, telekinesis), 5th level magic-user.

| Sensei: HD 7; AC 4 [15]; Atk 1 silver sword +3 (2d6+3); Move 15; Save 9; CL/XP 11/1700; Special: 50% MR, powers (mind blast, obfuscation, telekinesis), 7th level magic-user.

| Wizard-King: HD 16 (120 hp); AC -6 [25]; Atk 2 vorpal sword (4d6); Move 15; Save 3; CL/XP 24/5600; Special: 75% magic resistance, powers (mind blast, obfuscation, telekinesis), 16th level magic-user.

Astral Pirate
Astral pirates are descended from elves enslaved millenia ago by the alien thulids, from whom they long ago won their freedom. They are related to the astral ninjas, with whom they war constantly. Astral pirates have levels in fighter, wizard or fighter/wizard. They are led by a lich-queen. Astral pirates use baroque armor (splint mail +4) and weapons. They dwell in mighty castles on the astral plane or aboard astral pirate ships. All astral pirates are capable of manifesting themselves in the material plane at will.

Outside of their castles, most astral pirates are encountered in groups of four. Each of these groups will consist of two astral pirates, one sergeant, and a knight.

Temporary lairs and astral pirate ships will contain 1d10+9 astral pirates, 10 mates and 5 captains. Material plane lairs will contains 1d6+4 magic items.

Astral pirates have a special pact with a group of large red dragons. In return for food and shelter, the dragons allow the astral pirates to use them as mounts; each can carry anywhere from 5 to 11 pirates depending on their size.

Silver Sword: Silver swords are powerful magical weapons employed by both astral ninjas and astral pirates. Silver swords are +3 two-handed swords, which, if used astrally, have a 20% chance each round of cutting the silver cord. The supreme leaders use more powerful versions of this weapon that are +5, vorpal.

| Astral Pirate: HD 2; AC -1 [20]; Atk 1 two-handed sword (2d6); Move 15 (100 on astral plane); Save 16; CL/XP 3/60; Special: Powers (astral travel, mind blast, telekinesis).

| Mate: HD 5; AC -1 [20]; Atk 1 two-handed sword +1 (2d6+2); Move 15 (100 on astral plane); Save 12; CL/XP 6/400; Special: Powers (astral travel, mind blast, telekinesis).

| Captain: HD 8; AC -3 [22]; Atk 1 silver sword +3 (3d6); Move 15 (100 on astral plane); Save 8; CL/XP 11/1700; Special: Powers (astral travel, mind blast, telekinesis), protection from good, cause disease 1/week.

| Lich-Queen: HD 12; AC 1 [18]; Atk 1 vorpal sword +5 (3d6); Move 15 (100 on astral plane); Save 3; CL/XP 2/30; Special: Powers (astral travel, mind blast, telekinesis), 12th level magic-user.

Dolok
The doloks are a race of aberrations dedicated to the destruction of all life. Outside of their vehicles they look like anemic little squids and can be destroyed easily with a single weapon blow. Inside their vehicles, however, they are quite formidable. Doloks will instantly attack any living creature that crosses their path, shouting endlessly “destroy, destroy” in their high, metallic voices. They attack by firing a disintegration ray from their forward cannons. This ray works like the spell disintegrate. Doloks are immune to fear and other mind-affecting effects. Doloks can be encountered on the astral plane.

| Dolok: HD 6; AC -6 [25]; Atk 1 ray (disintegration); Move 6 (Fly 9); Save 11; CL/XP 10/1400; Special: Disintegrate ray, fearless.

Dune Raider
Beyond the shallow, black seas of the moon and the fungus forests that crowd those shores are the windswept lunar deserts. These deserts are frightening places; broiling hot in the daytime and freezing cold in the night, with fine, choking gray dust. The beasts who dwell in these deserts are fierce survivors, and the barbarians who hunt them are doubly fierce.

The dune raiders live in small hunting tribes. They live their entire lives wrapped in silk scarves and thick, woolen cloaks meant to protect their skin from the elements and their lungs from the lunar dust. They are built as humans, but have deep, croaking voices that betray their alien nature.

Dune raiders use massive woolly lunar caterpillars (10 HD, AC 18, MV 30, SV P, slam for 2d6 damage) as their mounts. These creatures are larger than elephants and exist in their caterpillar stage for over one hundred years before burrowing in the sand and emerging a century later as a lunar moth. The caterpillars are mostly inoffensive creatures capable of sustaining themselves on nutrients sifted from the sand. The raiders use their silk to weave their scarves and their hair to weave robes and cloaks.

Dune raiders use morningstars made of petrified seedpods found beneath the lunar sand. They are as effective as metal weapons and affect lycanthropes as though they were silver. The light weight of the seeds allow their wielders a +1 bonus to initiative.

They also arm themselves with ancient jezzails (rifles), the origin of which are unknown. An explosive powder and metallic balls are procured somewhere in the desert. These weapons have a range of 200 ft and deal 2-16 damage with a successful hit. They jam about one time in ten, and have such an explosive recoil that their firers must succeed at a CC 15 strength check to avoid being knocked prone.

The most important device the dune raiders have at their disposal, and another mystery for wizards, is their breathing tube. Anchored beneath their necks, these copper tubes sneak beneath their scarves and provide them with cool, dust-free air.

All dune raiders have the abilities of 3rd level rangers. If the dune raiders have a religion it is unknown, and spell casters have never been encountered among their kind. They make their way hunting the sands and raiding small settlements. On rare occasions they will seek to trade their silk and wool for seemingly worthless baubles; they are especially fond of glass and copper.

| Dune Raider: HD 3; AC 7 [12]; Atk 1 weapon (1d6); Move 12; Save 14; CL/XP 4/120; Special: 3rd level rangers.

Jeep
Jeeps are rare, dog-like creatures that live in Africa. They originate in the 4th dimension, and their extraplanar origin gives them the ability to use the following spells at will: dimension door, ethereal jaunt and spider climb. Jeeps eat only orchids, making them expensive pets to keep. They never tell lies and are loyal to the end.

“A Jeep is an animal living in a three dimensional world-in this case our world- but really belonging to a fourth dimensional world. Here’s what happened. A number of Jeep life cells were somehow forced through the dimensional barrier into our world. They combined at a favorable time with free life cells of the African Hooey Hound. The electrical vibrations of the Hooey Hound cell and the foreign cell were the same. They were kindred cells. In fact, all things are to some extent are relative, whether they be of this or some other world, now you see. The extremely favorable conditions of germination in Africa caused a fusion of these life cells. So the uniting of kindred cells caused a transmutation. The result, a mysterious strange animal.”

| Jeep: HD 2; AC 5 [14]; Atk 1 bite (1d4); Move 15; Save 16; CL/XP 3/60; Special: Dimension door, ethereal jaunt, spider climb.

Klingen
Klingens are a race of humanoids with swarthy skin and black hair. Both males and females have hard features and thick eyebrows. Male klingens usually cultivate beards and mustachios. Although klingens live in a highly regimented society, one should not come to the conclusion that they are lawful. Advancement in their society is through murder of those of higher rank, and klingen groups are rife with factions and double-dealing. All klingen warriors (and most civilians) can back attack for double damage.

Klingen warriors wear mail shirts and wield ray guns and daggers. Their ray guns fire a beam that can either inflict 2-12 points of subdual damage or 2-12 points of lethal damage. For every 10 klingen warriors there is a commander with 2 HD and the ability to back attack for triple damage. For every 5 commanders there is a 3 HD lieutenant with the death attack ability of a 2nd level assassin. For every 5 lieutenants there is a 5 HD captain with the death attack ability of a 4th level assassin.

Klingen player characters have a +1 bonus to wisdom and a -1 penalty to charisma. Typical classes are assassin, fighter and rogue. Klingen player characters have a +1 bonus to making rear and flank attacks, over and above normal bonuses. Their thick skin and unique physiology gives them a +1 bonus to armor class.

| Klingen: HD 1+1; AC 4 [15]; Atk 1 weapon (1d4) or 1 ray gun (2d6); Move 12; Save 17; CL/XP 2/30; Special: Backstab x2.

| Commander: HD 2+1; AC 4 [15]; Atk 1 weapon (1d4) or 1 ray gun (2d6); Move 12; Save 16; CL/XP 3/60; Special: Backstab x3.

| Lieutenant: HD 3+1; AC 4 [15]; Atk 1 weapon (1d4) or 1 ray gun (2d6); Move 12; Save 14; CL/XP 4/120; Special: Death attack as assassin.

| Captain: HD 5+1; AC 4 [15]; Atk 1 weapon (1d4) or 1 ray gun (2d6); Move 12; Save 12; CL/XP 6/400; Special: Death attack as assassin.

Travis Charest’s Spacegirl

/ jstater

I just discovered Travis Charest’s Spacegirl comic strip online. I’ve been a fan of his artwork for years, and I can’t wait to read this space opera. It sparked the following two notions:

Notion 1) The Villain’s Lair

We see villain’s like this in many books and movies – the guy in the dark chamber, spying on the heroes and doing his best to thwart him. Perhaps all those wandering monsters that adventurers are dealing with aren’t wandering at all – perhaps they are directed by a secret Villain and can provide a clue to where the Villain is hiding. You can make capturing intelligent monsters pay off if every (or many) captured monster has a piece of the puzzle – and a specific piece as well. So, to find the Villain requires the adventurers to discover three pieces of information – information that can be found through dangerous exploration, or by interrogating (or searching for clues like a certain kind of mud on their paws in the case of non-intelligent monsters) the second, fourth and seventh wandering monsters that they come upon on certain levels of a dungeon. This makes spells like comprehend languages (and intelligent characters with a wide range of known languages) or even speak with the dead more useful spells, since they can save adventurers a lot of time and trouble when they’re after the Villain and/or his horde of treaaure.

Notion 2) Pulp Sci-Fi Role-Playing Games

If you’re in the process of creating a retro sci-fi sort of game, how cool would it be to blend the game with art from this series. I wonder if a deal could be struck up between an enterprising game designer and Mr. Charest to feature some select panels in the game – not reprinting the entire thing, but maybe an image of a spaceship to illustrate the chapter on spaceships, etc. It would help the game product by making it more attractive, and could be a source of exposure for Charest (who, admittedly, probably doesn’t need much exposure). I mean, the web-comic is free, so maybe he would be open to such an arrangement.

Quick Review – Fantastic Voyage

/ jstater / 2 Comments

Before I begin – there are some spoilers in here. Since the basic plot of this book has been imitated so often, though, I don’t expect it will spoil things for too many people. It’s like worrying about ruining the “chicken crossing the road” joke for someone …

This is a tough one. Fantastic Voyage is a classic, and it is written by Asimov, a giant in his field. And, frankly, I didn’t find it all that impressive. Now, this is partly no fault of the author. The fact is, were I reading this when it first came out, the novel concept of shrinking people down and injecting them into a human body might have really floored me. Unfortunately, many years later, I’ve not only seen the movie adaptation, but also many, many rip-offs of the concept, the latest being in an episode of Phineas and Ferb (which I highly recommend).

So, the first problem is certainly no fault of the author. Unfortunately, the first problem is exacerbated by the second problem, which is only due to Asimov – the characters are so wooden and hollow that plodding through half of the book waiting for them to be shrunk is just mind numbingly boring. The characters aren’t just stereotypes, they are stereotypes of stereotypes. And after the stereotypes are finally miniaturized and injected, the book really doesn’t get much better. The description of the human anatomy from the point of view of the miniaturized explorers is sometimes interesting, but occasionally difficult enough for me to picture that any wonder was just lost. But then every step of the story involves entering a new part of the anatomy, introducing the “problem” and then solving said problem, often in obvious ways.

In one important way, Fantastic Voyage was way ahead of its time. Just as many (okay, most) modern movies sacrifice story to special effects, Fantastic Voyage ignores compelling (hell, even mildly interesting) characters and conflicts for the supposed wonder of seeing white blood cells up close. For me, the anatomy lesson and the make-believe physics of the miniaturization process just wasn’t enough. If you haven’t read the book, I recommend sticking with the movie.

JMS

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And now I need to finish my Beastmen of Nabu article and then get busy with the illusionist, a low-level adventure set in the catacombs of Ophir, and I need to begin plotting out the next chunk of sandbox …

Travelers from Space

/ jstater / 3 Comments

Travelers of Space was a sci-fi anthology published in 1951. Today, Golden Age Comic Book Stories presented a collection of aliens that were illustrated in that work. My two favorites are “Slot Eyes” and “Beminbra”. Slot Eyes looks like a dashing alien philosopher-knight, or perhaps his planet’s equivalent of Evil Knievel. Beminbra is who I would cast for a pulp make-over of the Star Wars franchise. These guys are begging for stats, so I might have to come up with something – completely divorced from the stories in which they appear, of course, since I’ve never read them. You could really build a campaign involving alien adventurers in a fantasy setting, trying to figure out the strange and unwholesome customs of the humans while bashing heads and gathering coins so they can repair their starship.


Slot Eyes and Beminbra