Thundarr the Movie

As a life-long comics fan and a retailer with a quarter century of experience, I was today years old when I discovered that Buzz Dixon and Chuck Dixon were not the same person.

I found Buzz's blog and he talks about working on the Thundarr the Barbarian cartoon and a proposed feature film where it turns out the Sunsword and not a comet was the source of the great cataclysm mentioned in the opening of the show. Apparently it was being fought over by two rival alien species causing it to be hurled toward the Moon, which it splits, before crashing into our planet and destroying the world as we knew it in 1994. Essentially he replaced the comet with the very weapon our protagonist wields and the film would have been a prequel.

How metal is that?

In his blog post Buzz says this, "There are plot holes and logic gaps in Thundarr big enough to fly a fleet of Airbuses through wingtip-to-wingtip so if you’re going to have a future where indestructible handheld weapons shatter moons and wipe out civilizations as the result of an unintended impact, you might as well go all the way and pile the wild ideas on top of each other.”

Those the kinds of stories I want to tell.

Ashes Without Number

Even though my interest in the OSR has waned a bit I still really appreciate the work that Kevin Crawford has down with Stars Without Number, Worlds, Without Number, and Cities Without Number. Ashes Without Number starts crowdfunding in July and is an update and expansion on Other Dust a game about post-apocalyptic worlds and the struggle to survive. If you dig Gamma World, Mutant Future Planet of the Apes, Mad Max, Furious, Rifts, and zombie dead worlds this game has you covered.

He's posted the character creation section and like CWN classes are ditched for Edges and includes rules for mutations.

The timing, for me, is excellent because I've been thinking a lot about Thundarr the Barbarian and enjoying Fallout on Amazon so I've got an itch for this genre.

By It is believed that the cover art can or could be obtained  from the publisher or studio., Fair use, 

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=699389

I'm not sure I'm up for a campaign but I've been working up a setting and brainstorming an adventure or two.

If you want to check out the character gen section you can download it here.

State of the Planes April 2024

It's been awhile. I've been good and hope all of you have as well. I've spend a lot of time thinking about what this hobby and its industry mean to me. I think I'm at a point in life where finding time for my buddies is more important to me than the games.

Further, I'm not sure I like running games anymore. I know I prefer the games I run to have less and less combat and that they resource management of DnD and its many, many clones just don't do it for me. Honestly, the OSR showed me the resource management aspects and I think it's why I don't have much to say about running any of those games. I've really come to realize I prefer games about big damn heroes fighting the good fight and if there isn't any real danger for the characters I don't know what the point of combat is. I'd rather run games where the conflicts have different stakes these days and I know with 100% certainty that I don't want any part of a combat that lasts over an hour and if the tide of battle looks like an assured victory for the players I'd rather just end it and move on.

I also find myself wanting less rules. I don't want a 300 page rulebook or a 300 page adventure. I'm lucky that right now I play with two fantastic groups who prioritize fun over rules and I trust them to let the story drive the sessions.

Additionally, I've found that I am really tired of rolling a d20 and seem to favor d100 and 3d6s as resolution systems these days. I've been looking at GURPS, The Fantasy Trip, and the HERO System a lot. HERO was my first RPG and maybes its simply nostalgia? Along those lines I've been reading Green Ronin's Adventure Game Engine offerings like Dragon Age, Modern Age, and Fantasy Age. However, I've found myself finding more satisfaction from systems where you roll equal to or below your TN as opposed to  equal to or above. That is a major sea change for me but I think it has to do with wanting to think less about rules while at the table and putting the mechanics into the hands of the players.

The only drawbacks I have with HERO and GURPS is that I don't want a full blown point-based system so after reading through GURPS Lite for 3rd Edition I've been looking at merging B/X DnD or Gamma World with the bones of the HERO system replacing the skill system and combat system and GURPS standing in for armor and weapons.

Hopefully, I'll get back to posting again to showcase my ideas.