Tuesday, April 10, 2012

In the beginning

Cross Planes is my foray into the OSR and DnD in particular.  The title takes inspiration from 2 sources:

1.  Cross Plains, TX was the home of Robert E. Howard, of whom I am a huge fan.

2.  I have a huge fondness for cross-genre stories and adventures; Nazis, Dinosaurs, Power Armor, Talking Apes, and Barbarians are all integral ingredients to making any story better...especially DnD.

After a several-year sabbatical from gaming, I've been lucky enough to have the chance to begin running campaigns again (and playing in several).

Weird War Stories draws inspiration from DC Comic's Creature Commandoes, Trey's Weird Adventures,  & Pulp Fantasy.  The setting is our Earth in 1947.  Due to the presence of Magic, WWII is still in high gear and the OSS has assembled a team of exotic agents to combat the increasingly bizarre and destructive tactics of the Axis Powers.  Operation: Malleus or the Hammers as they call themselves, have several notable agents:

Gargamel is a Necromancer and Investigator into Things Man Was Not Meant To Know, who is determined to gain as much forbidden knowledge from his missions as any man's sanity can handle.

Krow has returned from the grave to destroy Adolph Hitler and rid the world of his Evil in retaliation for destroying his entire family's bloodline.  Sir Justin Krow, Lord of Wyndham Thorn took up residence in the body of his last remaining descendant, Robert, as he was torn down on Normandy beach.

Nathaniel Black has been a spy for Great Britain for nearly a decade, but after being attacked by Nazi "Warwolves" last year, the OSS has given him resources to control his "inner beast" and promised a cure, after war's end, of course.

Atropos or Michael Cole was the only survivor of a U.S. Marine Squad that was assigned to take the Pacific island of Pohnpei.  The massacre the Navy came upon is classified and rumors say the C.O. tried to "put Cole out of his misery" when they found him.  After several attempts to dispose of Cole proved impossible, he was transferred to the OSS, where he has been amazingly effective.  And brutal.

James O'Malley is a Presbyterian Chaplain who has been assigned to their Unit.  His faith has been severely tested by not only their missions but by his fellow agents.

K.A.R.N.A.K. is an android discovered in 1942 in Egypt, by the Allies.  His memory banks were wiped but he's adapted quite quickly to his place in the OSS.  He has proved quite adept at helping to control Atropus in the field.

So far the Hammers have intercepted Nazi's deploying trained Velociraptors into Vichy France; tried to prevent a ritual that bound a Giant Gorilla to a Soul Gem;  And though failing to stop the ritual or recover the Gem, found information that led them to the shattered remains of Asgard on the Moon, where they came face to face with one of the legendary Gnomes of Zuriq--the Scythian!  They discovered he had been helping the Russian government rebuild the Rainbow Bridge as a method to unleash his ape army, Stalin's Shrewdness!

2 comments:

Mark Means said...

Sounds like tons 'o fun! Wish I were there to join in :)

Keep me updated, if possible.

Cross Planes said...

I wish you could too. I certainly will. Hopefully we'll figure something out in the future!

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