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Day 10 #RPGaDay2024, I continue writing using the alternative prompt challenge list by Skala Wyzwania. For more information on RPG a Day, see David Chapman’s Autocratik blog post for 2024.

The RPG challenge theme for today is Steampunk. This topic changes the narrative I’ve been threading through these posts. Let’s see what comes out of this—rolling a 1d10 for the quest. The result is 5: Write a legend or rumor.

The Legend of Ancient Ravall

The clockwork makers of ancient Ravall were renowned for their steam-powered mechanical constructions. From the Iron Wagons that crisscrossed their Princedoms with thunderous clatter, trailing the smoke plumes they left behind, to the soot-covered automated great gates to the capital of Ravall’ker, to the automaton servants and warriors that fought wars and harvested food as the people of Ravall grew complacent and decadent.

The automatons rose and slayed their mortal creators and took the place of their masters. But the machines decayed, the automatons could not fix their creators’ works or create new automatons, and Ravall fell into silence. The machines were motionless and soundless, the steam no longer bellowing over their cities. The other peoples of the world saw Ravall as a warning; the terrible dangers of clockwork and steam and distant Ravall went unvisited; eventually, the way there was lost and became simply a curiosity to scholars and a tale told to children as a warning.

But during these dark times, the forbidden legendary wonders of Ravall are whispered by some as the answer to the time of the Potentates of the Night and the Darkness. Weapons of war and automaton warriors who can face the creatures of the night without being tainted by the Darkness; the brave, or foolhardy, search for the way to reach the lost valleys of the Princedom. Others say that the secret way there has been found. That a cabal of warlocks holds court in the silent cities of brass and steam and that the gears of old Ravall turn once more.

I thought writing for this challenge would be harder, but the ideas flowed. This prompt inspired the continuing story I’m crafting in these posts. However, they are becoming self-referential, and I wonder if this makes it more difficult for the casual reader to pick up. What do you think? Should I make connections to the previous post more evident in the post or add some footnotes? Are they necessary? I’d love to know your thoughts.

You’re still in time to join in and participate in #RPGaDay2024. Don’t forget to tag your contribution with the hashtag and share it with us here, on your socials, and in the #RPGaDay 2024 Facebook Group.

Over the last few days, I've been in Iowa City with my daughter for a diving camp at the University of Iowa. It's been a  little tiring, but a lot of fun. I've enjoyed driving around the city, walking around, spending some time at the waterfront, and seeing part of America that I have no experience with. It is both very similar to, and quite a bit different from, the world of Western New York that I know.
But, everwhere I go, I have the same thought - this is how I always pictured Midvale. Granted, this is a city in 2024 and not 1984, but the feel of the city, its layout and landscape and topography, is very much what I envision when I think of Doc Stalwart's home town of Midvale.
It's got this inherent dissonance between modern and traditional; it is proud of its farming heritage, but there's a Starbucks on every corner. 
Nowhere was this inherent dissonance on greater display than in a street concert we walked through last night. As we moved through a crowd of white people sipping $6 smoothies and eating $10 ice cream sundaes, the band emoted about how the heartland is hurting and the coastal elites don't care... and people nodded and sipped their smoothies. 
In Buffalo, I can drive a few blocks and see HURTING. I see it. A lot of it. Go through my school district for ten minutes, and I see people hurting. It's pretty clear. I haven't seen the whole of Iowa City, but I've gone out of my way to go out of my way driving around, and I'm not seeing it. I'm seeing a lot of comfort and peace and stability. So, I'm not sure where this mindset comes from.
But I could see it wearing on Doc. Doc is a patient man - probably to a fault. He is able to see the other's side - also maybe to a fault. But I would think that being surrounded by some people who always feel like they deserve just a little bit more than they have, and that others are others are always unfairly taking from them, would wear him down. I would think that after another meeting where the mayor asks him if he could just 'help out a little bit more' than he does he would finally decide to go someplace where the needs are genuine. 
It is the birthplace of Doc Stalwart, but he just cannot live there. I love that his boyhood hero is heartland - this is something that is core to his character. He is rooted in the heartland. But, he also cannot stay here forever. Because there is genuine hurting out there.

Charles Ferguson-Avery
Self Published
System Neutral? It's D&D
Level ... 3?

“By the grace of Solis, all shall be welcome” “By the will of Solis, all shall be equal” “By the hand of Solis, all shall be safe” “And so the night shall not consume us Promises made and promises broken, words that spelled the death of an entire civilization. Abducted from the surface and trapped below, a world bent to the maniacal will of the Sun-King For half a millennia, this world remained sealed until now What slithers and lurks in the dark after such a time?

This 208 page adventure presents a dungeon in a dying underground city with about six levels and, oh, I don’t know, 200ish rooms? Not quite a megadungeon, but much more the five room crap fests that dominate D&D. It manages to capture the grandeur and decadence of a city just past it’s decline but not quite dead yet. It manages to fulfill, I think, the promise offered by B4/Lost City.

A lot of people really love Lost City, but it never really captured the lost city vibe for me. Bryce the heretic, I guess. Anyway, I think this adventure DOES capture that lost city vibe and is a better lost city than Lost City was … albeit with a longer page count. I like this one a lot. We’re not talking Thracia here, but, also, I’m gonna start by trashing it a bit. Know ye, though, that it’s getting The Best and I mention Thracia because sometimes it’s worth clawing through the flaws to get at what’s underneath.

We’ve got this civilization with a sun god and they all figure out that there’s going to be catastrophe so they make a city underground and move in. Well, the commoners who built the city get locked out and die screaming at the entrance gates, but, hey, Musk and Bezos get in. So we’ve got this upper class thing going on and then an undercity in the undercity, full of the laborers. I think there was a Star Trek:ToS about that? The inevitable happens, riots, revolts, etc, and one of the four religious cults goes nutso and gains power and everything is in decline now, 450 years later. Sun god sends you in to Egyptian territory, but instead I want you to go in to a Bioshock/Rapture vibe, with some Brazil (the movie) thrown in. Maybe not as “NYE tuxedo!” as Bioshock, but think of the decaying grandeur of Rapture mashed up with the behind-the-scenes infrastructure of Brazil. The place has gas lines. We’re not talking techno vibes here, just, the place has gas lines and that kind of towering socialist realism art from the commies. 

I’m going to comment negatively in two specific areas. First is the lack of contextual specificity. We’ve got a 208 page adventure. Sixish levels of dungeon. A kings court, with a renegade king. Four religious cults. Various other groups. This place comes across as a place with a history that has influenced the way the people act today. Which is fucking fantastic! But, while we get kind of the grand scheme of things we’re also lacking the kind of local specificity to help us understand how the place works, on a day to day basis. How do the factions interact. Grand themes. We might draw some comparisons to how I usually reference vista overlooks and order-of-battle in adventures. We need some SPECIFIC context in how the place works. Something more specific than “Winter cult is the underclass.” What’s the impact here, in summary? Those summaries are generally missing. The grand scheme, yes, but not the specifics of what’s going on, summarized, so it can guide the DM during play in riffing on things. You can put this together, during prep of the book, but it means highlighting and note taking. And while I’m generally not cool with that, sometimes I think it’s worth it. And I think it’s worth it here. 

There’s also a tonal imbalance in places, but I don’t think on purpose? The civilization upstairs rebuilt. It’s now a happy go lucky collectivist anarchy. Everyone is happy and productive member of society with non ill will towards anyone. They are all so very earnest. We’re not really pushing the collectivity anarchy shit, but, also, it seems unrealistic to me, especially in D&Dlandia. Even the hirelings are all so very earnest. Not the mudcore I usually run. But then you get to the underground city and things can get grim. The difference here is quite stark. Not quite harvesting kids to eat their organs in mud pits, but its certainly closer to grimdark than your usual adventure. I found this tonal imbalance striking. But, also, it doesn’t seem like its been done on purpose. I didn’t see the juxtaposition between the two really called out or emphasized in a way that would make me think it was meant to be a part of the game. This tonal imbalance is found in some other areas as well. There’s this dude that crawls through the pipes in the underground city, a kind of traveling merchant. Bang on the pipes and he pops out of a pipe or vent an hour later with a bag of shit to buy and sell. It’s presented in a cartoon-like manner. I was REALLY struggling with the adventure up to this point. I then, however, made the jump to Brazil and the first few rooms of the dungeon proper lent that Rapture vibe, with cultists wearing stylized masks and/or leather faces … eek! The dungeon clicked then, for me, but the village above … ? I can’t tell whats supposed to be going on there. Or, rather, nothing is going on there since everyone is so content. Poopy, I say sir! Poopy!

Otherwise, this thing is pretty decent. One of the things I think it does quite well is to capture that sense of ruined grandeur. This is that thing that the endless parade of dwarf city adventures fails to do. It does a great job of communicating impressions, while still giving enough specifics that it feels like a real description. A Vast Hall: “Dozens of patterned columns hold up a vast and partially collapsed vaulted ceiling. Noise echoes easily, and scurrying can be heard in the dark…” or “Creation Mosaic: Light catches a wall of glittering glass tiles. Covering the wall and stretching dozens of paces wide is a mosaic of beatific images of a sun-headed figure overseeing a city.” Glittering tiles. Vast hall. beatific figures. Scurrying. Very specific descriptive words that lend a vibe to the setting. And it does a great job of presenting these early on in the adventure, setting that tone, framing everything else, every other description, that the party is about to come across, putting it in the context of those first rooms that they laid down so well. It’s quite a good job. (And, I must say, it’s complemented wonderfully by the art. Great job of communicating a vibe and really delivering on the art complimenting the adventure text and helping the DM frame the text and bringing it to life. I’m looking, right now, at that Creation Mosaic art, but, the cultists and so on have these stylized masks and robes that really come across well also.) “A soot-caked hovel that billows smoke every hour of the day.” Well there you go! I can run with that! 

And, thank fucking god (sun god?) tha the monsters get actual descriptions. Not all that ecology shit, but a description that you can use during a game. “A vaguely humanoid wall of sinuous muscle the size of a draft horse. Its face is a horrid mess of teeth and its arms nearly drag on the floor.” That’s a kind of hulk cultist. I’m not in love with it, but, also, it’s better than most descriptions, giving me shit I can actually use when the characters encounter it. I want a monster description, or an attack description, looping, howling, pouncing, etc. And this gets pretty close to that.

But, also, the adventure is more than evocative descriptions. And this adventure is a lot more than “enter room, kill dude, repeat.” The very first room is a ruined marketplace and we get some mole/weasel things stalking through the place. Not just a room with a monster in it, but a kind of confused chaotic market mess with stalls, and stalking things. That’s a decent encounter for a location like that. In another area we’ve got a kind of sculpture, a bronze one, resting upon a plinth, a lot of interconnected blocks. Geometric, abstracted almost. Except it’s a sculpture of the underground city, it’s levels and such. And, thus, the clever player can learn some things. Perfect! In another are we have “A fissure in the walls of a cell gives way to a tight passage filled with statues piled upon each other. They appear to be climbing over each other, their faces filled with fear and shock.” What’s that you say? The DM text tells us that “the cave cockatrices used it as an ambush point until it was filled with their petrified victims.” Ouchies! Noice! and, even better … “A room can be spotted through the passage, behind the pile of statues.” Fuck! Yeah! I. Can. See. You. Let’s do it man! Tantalus. Goals. These things drive D&D. 

We’ve got a great little ghost mini-game also. Lots of bodies. Lots of ghosts. Loots the bodies and pissoff the ghosts. Bury bodies, etc and make them happy. Each ghost has an unhappy and happy effect, and will react that way if the party pushes the happy bar up high or the unhappy bar down low. Do they set off the leaking gas line or do they put out your flames while pointing to the broken line? But, also, looting bodies brings treasure, and it’s XP … and levels! It’s a great little mini-game to have going on while they fuck with everything else in the dungeon.

This is $20 at DriveThru. There is no preview. Bad designer! Bad!

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/481818/ave-nox?1892600

A third-party supplement for Shadowdark RPG to add untold chaos to your local town.

I find setting material to essentially be system neutral - as combat is stressed less.

The Shucked Oyster: A Cursed Brothel for Shadowdark RPG Kickstarter looks to be what I want in a setting supplement - plug and play ability filled with lots of story hooks.

At last, you've made it back to town from your latest delve. The coin purse at your hip bulges with your hard earned loot. Sure, you could spend this on upgrading your equipment, but you can't keep your eyes off the the women leaning off the porch of the wildest bawdy house in town. But before you can even loosen your purse strings, smoke begins to billow from the second floor window. Within seconds, jets of flame spew out to consume the whole building. A stream of men and women pour out of the exits, and the brothel burns to the ground.

Welcome to The Shucked Oyster, the best brothel in town!

Designed for use with the 4-time Ennie Award Winning Shadowdark RPG and other fantasy role playing games, this supplement provides an iconic drop-in location for any town or city in your campaign. The Oyster is a cursed brothel that is routinely destroyed and rebuilt after freak accidents set it ablaze! Included, you will find a slew of wild and crazy NPCs, new magic items, expanded social mechanics, unique dungeons, and enough adventure hooks for an entire campaign!

The Shucked Oyster is a wild place. It serves as a nexus connecting an enormous number of people to one another. Each of the 34 fully fleshed out NPCs has their own motivations, connections, and agendas in town. Helping or hindering any one of them will light a fuse that will add all manner of fun and unexpected excitement to your game!

 

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 Wretched Chanbara! is a fully-realized game setting built on the robust foundations of the Wretched system, complete with a succinct yet rich world history and a solid background that can be used for both short scenarios and extensive campaigns. The heart of Wretched Chanbara! lies in its deep immersion into the atmosphere of classic Japanese cinema, spanning from the 1950s to the late Needleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11243274667834930867noreply@blogger.com0

The Far Away Land has got a Kickstarter for a second edition just in time for it's 10th anniversary. For those of you who aren't familiar with it, is a gonzo fantasy setting with unique art and a vibe a lot like Adventure Time but a flair all its own. It's creator and artist, Dirk Stanley describes it with the elevator pitch: "Imagine Rifts, Dungeons & Dragons, and Adventure Time had a baby," which I think pretty much covers it. 

I always felt like Far Away Land shared a common spirit with my own Land of Azurth, and I've run some of Stanley's adventures to good effect in my home campaign. They are unfailingly imaginative.
The Kickstarter just started but has already funded. Whether you are already a fan or hearing about it for the first time, you might want to check it out. 

Day 9 #RPGaDay2024, another day writing about the alternative prompt challenge list by Skala Wyzwania. For more information, see David Chapman’s Autocratik blog post for RPG a Day 2024.

The RPG challenge theme for today is Heroes. Rolling a 1d10 for the quest. The result is 4. Invent an item.

Bracelet of Champions

When a mortal takes up the cause of a deity, be it the High Gods or the Low, a priest may gift them with a bracelet created through a ritual that identifies the wearer as a hero of the cause. The bracelet’s appearance depends on the deity’s faith, cause, or auspice. A bracelet of Carron, God of the Sun, might be a series of interlaced red, fiery gems, and a bracelet of Ylarria, Goddess of the Sea, might be a set of disparate seashells strung together with silver string.

A priest of the faith will recognize a wearer of a Bracelet of Champions without seeing the bracelet. They will receive hospitality and aid from a temple or shrine of the God, commensurate with their resources. Beneficial spells and rituals performed by the priest of the God are more effective when cast upon the wearer of the Bracelet of Champions.

Priests of the Lower Gods are still able to create Bracelets of Champions. Speakers of the High Gods can no longer create Bracelet of Champions and can no longer cast spells, but their rituals are still beneficial, and artifacts and shrines of the High Gods offer greater benefit to the hero.

Thanks for reading, dear reader. Some of the quests are repeating, and there is one I haven’t done yet. Let’s see what the dice bring tomorrow.

Join in and participate in #RPGaDay2024. Don’t forget to tag your contribution with the hashtag and share it with us here, on your socials, and in the #RPGaDay 2024 Facebook Group.

I never expected to say this, but I've become a huge fan of the Adventure Time cartoon. I really enjoy the quirky stories. To snag 75 issues of the Adventure Time Comic Book series for 18 bucks is simply a bargain I can't pass up.

Join Finn, Jake, and the rest of your faves from the Land of Ooo on a series of new adventures in this bundle of Adventure Time comics from Oni Press. You’ll get 75 issues of wild quests, magical mishaps, and hilarious hijinks, featuring a rogues gallery of beloved baddies familiar to longtime fans as well as unexpected alliances and plenty of whimsical chaos, as only Adventure Time can provide. Plus, your purchase helps the Hero Initiative and the Book Industry Charitable Foundation.

 

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Last night I began to delve into some of my old school resources including a Marvel Super Heroes rpg campaign that never came about. Let me explain, when I was a young comic book fan it was all about Rom The Space Knight. Rom appeared in the midst of my middle school years & his origin goes back to the U.K.. Here it is in a nutshell;" The peaceful planet known as Galador was threatened Needleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11243274667834930867noreply@blogger.com0

Over on the Flashback Universe Blog I reviewed the new Amazon Prime Batman animated series, Batman: The Caped Crusader.

I got an idea to retcon Skye Stalwart a bit... my original thought was that she (at some point in the near future of Doc's timeline) traveled to the future and joined the Stalwart Legion of the 28th Century. I have since added a four-part appearance of the Stalwart Legion to the official list of Doc stories, in a battle against Synchronous (in the early 1970s). I figured that this version wouldn't have her in it yet, but then I thought it would be even better if I decided this was a twist; the Stalwart Legion 'always' had Skye Stalwart in it (so she is an existing character circa 1985), but Doc didn't know this was his daughter... maybe SHE didn't even know she was his daughter. So, he's already met an older version of her, thinking that this was a far future descendent, and only recently learned that she was actually his daughter who had been whisked to the future.
I like a lot about this idea, and it puts Skye into the more active continuity of other things, so I like that better, too. I like that her story is, in effect, told 'out of time', because we meet her a bit older than she ultimately ends up being in the primary continuity.
It might even be worth tying this all to Scooter James as a creative force; Skye Stalwart was his idea at maybe twelve years old, and he was the one who ultimately made the decision to add her to the current continuity as Doc's daughter. I like it that she is 'his' character.
I have decided that whatever ends up in print in Stalwart '85 is going to be the final, official word on what actually happened in the continuity of this world, and I'm going to have to build from it. Needless to say, I'll be spending some time really thinking through how all of the various pieces truly fit together before publishing that final book in a few months...

Day 8 #RPGaDay2024, once more into the fray, continuing with the alternative prompt challenge list by Skala Wyzwania. For more information, see David Chapman’s Autocratik blog post for RPG a Day 2024.

The RPG theme for today is Experiment. Rolling a 1d10 for the quest. The result is 8. Present an idea for a random encounter.

Blood-Stained Philosophers

After the Night of the Weeping Starfire and the coming of the Nocturnal Potentates, the nature of mortals changes. The blood in their bodies bears the curse of the dark rulers of the night. All those born under the auspice of a constellation of the Nocturnal Potentates (see #RPGaDay2024 Day 3) have cursed blood. Only the Brothers and Sisters of the Order Crimson Hands can touch the blood of those cursed and not have the blood warp and mutate them. But there are not many members of the Order of the Crimson Hand, and others risk themselves as healers, chirurgeon, and bloodletters. Those brave or foolhardy enough to do this, for whatever reason, have their bodies changed, their bodies twisted, and are called the Blood Stained.

Others engage in bloodletting purposefully and experiment with the effect that the tainted blood has on them and others. You encounter one such Blood-Stained Philosopher. The person dresses like a healer or chirurgeon; they will offer to help the adventurers, plying their trade, but on close observation, they do not take the precautions other Blood Stained often do. They seem to revel in the experience. They frequently have a hat, hood, or other head covering, hiding mutations on their heads. They may have humps that seem to move, pustules of scabs of unnatural color. Alternatively, the philosophers may not be mutated themselves but have victims traveling with them covered to hide their mutations. Often, in a stupor produced by secret brews, the philosopher feeds them. Any healing performed by the Blood-Stained Philosopher can infect others as they treat different patients without taking care of not mixing their patients’ blood.

Thanks for reading. This one was tougher than I imagined. What format to use was a challenge. Do you think what I wrote meets the idea presented by the quest? Let me know if you think it worked.

Join in and participate in #RPGaDay2024. Don’t forget to tag your contribution with the hashtag and share it with us here, on your socials, and in the #RPGaDay 2024 Facebook Group.

See you tomorrow.

 "The Atlas-class freighter is the second most commonly found ship in Clement Sector.  Building on the information found in Clement Sector Third Edition, this updated volume  lovingly details this shipping legend and brings it up the Clement Sector Third Edition rules and standards.Created by Cascadian legend James Lancaster, the Atlas is perhaps his most enduring legacy.  TheNeedleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11243274667834930867noreply@blogger.com0

Here's the cover I drew for issue one of Hellion Cross.

What do you mean those worms are phallic?

Now... I'm on the fence here, but I might do a different one and use this for the back cover. My reason is simple: I made this one as suggestive as possible without making it actually erotic.

This is not an erotic piece of art. This is a woman locked in a fight with a worm monster. Worms are phallic. I drew the worms the way I picture worms to be in my head. I didn't actually look up any worm images because they're gross and it wasn't necessary for the piece. I drew Fawn in a way that suggests she is nude (she is) but isn't overt about nudity (it isn't). She isn't having fun, obviously, and the worm monster isn't having fun either, obviously. It's a battle.

But god dammit, that's a lot of phallic stuff she's holding in her hands, right?

I'm such a bad, bad man.

Anyway, the comic is done except for any changes I might make in deciding the cover art. I'm on the fence. I'm not sure if this is the image I want on the cover. It might end up on the back cover instead.

Today's Deal of the Day is The Waking of Willowby Hall from Questing Beast Games. Normally 7.50 in PDF, but until tomorrow morning The Waking of Willowby Hall is on sale for a mere 3 bucks.

The Waking of Willowby Hall is a dense, highly interactive RPG adventure set in a ruined manor beset by a rampaging giant, roving bands of restless dead, and a very angry goose.

Suitable for PCs of approximately 3rd level.

Features a highly interactive environment that rewards clever play.

Perfect for one-shots or for dropping into an existing campaign.

Contains "One Page Dungeon" maps that allow the DM to run much of the adventure at a glance.

Uses bullet points and control-panel layout for maximum ease of use.

Statted for Knave, but easily usable with any old-school fantasy RPG.

Writing, layout, and cartography by two-time ENnie Award winner Ben Milton, author of Maze Rats, Knave, and Jim Henson's Labyrinth: The Adventure Game.

Lavishly illustrated by Sam Mameli

Download includes:

Two versions of the adventure, one with two-page spreads and one without.

The full wraparound cover image

Blank, unkeyed maps for use with virtual tabletops

The manor of Willowby Hall is under siege by a giant, enraged at the theft of his magical goose. The band of thieves has taken shelter within the manor's crumbling walls, cowering with their ill-gotten poultry as the building shakes itself apart. But something else is stirring. The giant's rampage is slowly awakening a Death Knight from its black slumber, and once it rises it will call on the bones of the manor's old residents to drive out the intruders.

Will the party loot the manor of its ancient relics, or succumb to the blades of its skeletal guardians? Who will make off with the goose and its golden eggs? Will anyone survive the giant's onslaught? The only way to find out...is to play.

 

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 Wretched Chanbara! is one of my favorite Wretched rpg setting. This faux Japan has some excellent hooks to bring in the PC's as Japanese horror/cinema style PC's. And this works very well for a Samurai themed action/horror campaign. I got the chance to run a character in DM Steven's recent game & we had a blast. We played a party of Ronin on thier way to act as the representives ofNeedleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11243274667834930867noreply@blogger.com0

Scooter James may have had the strangest ascent in comics history. He started as ‘The First President of the Doc Stalwart Fan Club” in 1970 - at ten years old. He became a regular contributor to the letters’ column (starting with a letter published in issue #100), with a missive appearing in every column from that point forward. As of issue 150, he got a special spotlight in “Note from the Fan Club President”, that was set aside from the other letters each month. 

Scooter eventually became a creative voice as well. He sent in a story idea that served as the foundation for the “Return to the Future” storyline (Mighty Doc Stalwart #127-130), and at fifteen, started contributing story outlines (paid $3 per outline), that were adapted into backup features, almost always featuring his favorite characters, the Stalwart Legion of the 28th Century.

So, it was somewhat appropriate that as of Mighty Doc Stalwart #251, at age 24, he was hired full time as the editor-in-chief of New Stalwart Press; he was the one who was tasked with hiring the replacements for Byron John, the brothers Mike and Theo Pretzlaff, who took over the book going forward.

He had big ideas. He launched the Spectacular Stalwart Super Society. He started negotiating television and toy rights for the characters. He started to look at ways to merchandise Doc and his world, building the brand beyond its humble comic book origins.

But one of the biggest and most outlandish of his ideas was unveiled at the New Years’ Comic Con ’84, two weeks into his tenure as editor-in-chief. He organized the first ever ‘Independent Comics Company Summit’, where dozens of small publishers and independent creators met together in Ballroom B of the Grand Castle Hotel to share an idea he had.

The “Big Two” were doing huge crossover events, bringing together their major characters to battle a huge cosmic threat on a grand scale. He wanted to do something similar. He knew that New Stalwart Press, though a successful company, was nowhere near the size and scale of the Big Two, and wouldn’t be able to do such an event independently.

However… he suggested that everyone in the room, if they wanted to work together, could pull it off. His pitch was simple: The Mighty Doc Stalwart Annual #2 would be a collaborative story where dozens of creators, representing dozens of smaller companies, would come together to tell a story with each of their signature characters joining together against a huge cosmic threat. They would all continue to hold the copyrights to their own characters, granting one-time rights to publish them here.

Over the next twenty-four hours, what might be the greatest comic book jam session of all time took place, as dozens of creators worked together to build a story and crank out 64 pages. This was released to much fanfare; each creator received 100 ‘limited edition’ copies to sign and sell at conventions, and the book was released through newsstand distribution. Each creator kept a few original pages, and these were distributed in a lottery system. All proceeds were donated, and many of the creators who contributed suggested that this was a ‘launch point’ for their independent comic companies.

But, I mean, I don’t have to tell you all about this. You were there, after all.   

And the Kickstarter will reveal how it all went down.    

My ongoing mission: read DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to Crisis! This week, I'm looking at the comics at newsstands on the week of August 4, 1983. 

Vigilante #1: Vigilante is a very 80s character in a way that it would have been hard to recognize in the 80s. His mission brief, as laid out here by Wolfman, is that he goes after criminals who escaped the law due to "a technicality"--a frequent 80s complaint, but what we now would term "due process." Anyway, Vigilante has got a tricked out, improbably huge RV, and a sidekick who is a tech expert. I'm struck by how much this setup reminds of where the Punisher winds up when he gets his on series (no RV, but a cool custom van). I can't blame Punisher's writers from cribbing from Vigilante, because Vigilante's stark, black and white suit (excepting a blue strip) and origin seem inspired by the Punisher, who I will note, was featured in 1982 in a character-re-popularizing 3 issue arc of Miller's run on Daredevil.   The costume as rendered by Pollard and Giordano is pretty snazzy, though.
Anyway, after a criminal, Quilt, who Chase has long had his eye on, gets off thanks to a corrupt judge, Vigilante agrees to help a widow with a secret. Quilt has got a henchman named Brand who dresses all in white, has a white curly mohawk, and uses (guess!) a "B" branding iron as a weapon. There's a big fight scene at Coney Island and a climatic struggle on a roller coaster.

All-Star Squadron Annual #2: One thing I've discovered in this read through is that the comic tradition of large-scale team-ups with subgroups squaring off against villains that I so enjoyed is a kid, mostly winds up with me skimming pages of fights when I'm reading more than 6 comics a week for these reviews! This weeks Justice League is a such a comic, and Thomas and Ordway deliver the same sort of thing here. With extra pages! Which is not to say, in isolation, that it's bad. Finally, the heroes have rallied enough to be on the offensive against Ultra and his goons and this overlong storyline comes to a reasonable conclusion. The 1942 Ultra is seemingly blown up in Cyclotron's self-destruction (perhaps creating a paradox given he's alive in '83) and Infinity, Inc. get to team up with the All-Stars/JSA. Amazing-Man reveals he did make a heel-face turn, but was just playing along with the bad guys.

Amethyst: Princess of Gemworld #7: Mishkin/Cohn and Colon have Amethyst go on the offensive, crashing the wedding of Prince Topaz and Princess Sapphire to make sure that the nuptials do not come off, thwarting the plans of Dark Opal. She begins recruiting for her coalition to defeat the tyrant. There's a lot of Comics Code approved Game of Thrones-esque lord and lady intros and hints of political intrigue. It could all no doubt seem darker rendered by another hand, by it's all pretty breezy in Colon's cartoony style, and I kind of like it.

Blackhawk #264: Blackhawk pursues the Nazi assassin known as De Morder and they are both forced down in the remote Alps where they find a sort of European Shangri-La: a city of near immortal pacifists with telekinetic powers. Blackhawk and De Morder are forced through a trial to see which of the two men of violence is actually evil. In the end, De Morder's villainy is revealed, and Blackhawk is allowed to take him into custody. Meanwhile, the other Blackhawks attack Merson's recently discovered secret laboratory, but the evil inventor releases a swarm of trained bats fitted with explosive vests to down their planes.
In the solo story backup by Evanier and Meugniot, Chop Chop is in Switzerland breaking up a meeting between Japanese arms dealers and an amoral American arms exporter. The Japanese try a double cross using a giant robot. Chop-Chop defeats the robot and saves the American but she doesn't change her ways.

Arak: Son of Thunder #27: The Thomases and Randall pick up where last issue left off in the hippodrome of Byzantium. Arak recognizes the woman in the cage who can change into a tiger as the sister of the priestess Dziewona (who he met back in the Warlord preview). Risking his own life, Arak frees the woman. The empress orders their deaths, and it looks like the soldiers will bear down Arak and Satyricus through weight of numbers but the woman, Dyanna, calls down the power of her goddess. It's manifest as a solar eclipse and the animation of a pair of bronze horse statues. Arak follows Dyanna out of the city riding one of the horses.
In the backup with art by Randall/Yeates, we catch up with what Valda and Malgigi are up to on their way back to Frankland. Mostly, this means a flashback to Valda's training as a young knight and an incident which began when Creston, the Knight All in Scarlet, dying, whispered to her the name of the Archangel Michael.

DC Comics Presents #63: Mishkin/Cohn and Saviuk/Colon go for some synergy this week and have Amethyst team-up with Superman. Carnelian has come to Earth and is causing trouble, using Kryptonite as a source of magical power. The issue has a clever structure in that part is on Earth where Amethyst is just a kid, but she has useful information to help Superman, and the second half is on Gemworld where Amethyst takes the lead, but Superman's powers, unfamiliar to Dark Opal and his crew, allow the heroes to win the day.

Flash #327: Fiona is still in the hospital thinking any guy with a vague resemblance to Barry is him, but the Flash thinks that's better than revealing himself. Members of a street gang harassing a homeless guy inadvertently re-awaken Gorilla Grodd, who regains his true form. Meanwhile, the Justice League summons the Flash to the satellite for a vote on his continued membership given the charges. The way the votes go down doesn't map to my conception of the characters, but this was also 41 years ago. Firestorm, Green Arrow, and Elongated Man are for letting him stay, while Hawkman, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman vote to expel him. Superman arrives and will cast the tie-breaking vote.

Fury of Firestorm #18: Taking up where last issue left off, Conway and Tuska/Rodriguez reveal Hewitt's knew inelegant supervillain identity--Tokamak. He can shoot "quantum rings." First, he fills Merkyn, the former Enforcer, for failure, then he gives the Enforcer suit to Mica Love before he goes after Lorraine Reilly in the hospital. Firestorm, whose been trying to figure out the connection between all these events, is jolted into action to protect her. We learn Hewitt is working with some organization called the 2000 Committee.

Justice League #220: Thomas and Patton complete the JSA/JLA team-up, revealing the true origin of Black Canary, and it has real "One Last Day" energy, in the since that it's pretty dumb, but it was a means to an end. Evil Earth-One Johnny (we're never given any backstory on his villainy) and T-bolt reveal that Dinah and Larry Lance had a daughter who was cursed by an evil Wizard to have a really loud cry (or sonic scream), so Dinah calls a guy who used to crush on her to see if he will get his genie to help. The genie can't do anything but take the baby away and let her grow up in isolated, suspended animation. Problem solved! Except the parents get radiation poisoning and die, but the Dinah's dying wish is to let her now-grown but mentally a black slate daughter continue for her by making her a mental clone. And Superman knew all this, but never told Black Canary or the JLA. Thomas thanks Wolfman for the idea, which seems to me to be a way of sharing the blame.
Anyway, the JSA and JLA defeat the villains, and Black Canaries youth and super-powers are explained.

Wonder Woman #309: Mishkin and Heck conclude the story started last issue, with the Roma woman, Zenna, whose mind is in Black Canary's body, explaining how the sadistic Nazi Schlagel has continued his experiments and has been using Roma children with psychic gifts to power a machine so that he can have the power to challenge the U.S. military. Our heroes free Black Canary, but Zenna jumps to Diana's body in her quest for vengeance, so now Wonder Woman is in Zenna's body as they race to stop Schlagel from launching missiles. In the end, Wonder Woman in Zenna's body is prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice, but the real Zenna jumps back in at the last second.
The Cavalieri and Burgard/Rodriguez Huntress backup reveals a new villain, the sewer-dwelling Earthworm, who I recognize from his half-page in the DC Who's Who. He's apparently the supplier of this baby-snatching ring, but we don't get the details just yet.

I've got a pre-launch page up for the Kickstarter... please go and sign up (even if you're not sure you'll be able to back the project)! Even if you cannot support it yourself, I'd appreciate it if you can let other people know about it.
I expect to launch middle of next week.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1706035146/stalwart-85

by The Danger Forge
Self Published
Swords & Wizardry
Levels 5-7

Khaliassa. The ancient Serpent Queen of lost Samarra. While her empire crumbled long ago, stories of her malice and cruelty have survived the passage of time Now hushed whispers are heard in the Free Cities of Thendar. They speak of the return of the Serpent Queen and the rise of her dark temple in the Forest of Jilan. Tales are told around campfires that her followers roam the land, capturing the innocent to offer as sacrifices at her altar The Prince of Belkan-Tir calls for the aid of a brave party of adventurers to travel to the village of Ilkuz and determine the cause of the local unrest Has Khaliassa truly returned? Or is some other agency operating under the shadow of her ancient legend Who knows what perils await in the dark temple of the Serpent Queen.

This sixty page adventure uses about thirty pages for an verland journey and raid on a serpant man temple. Small fonts, triple columns, long italic read-aloud and mostly just fighting. And, worse, no crumbling serpant man temple vibes. 

You travel to a village, getting attacked at a waystation along the way. Making it to the village, they are having trouble! You travel to a bandit camp and fight them. You travel through a forest to serpent man temple and fight them, across a couple of levels. Along the way you will do nothing other than stab things. 

I guess we can start with the most glaring obvious things: the presentation layer. It’s triple column. With a tiny font. There are few other formatting options selected, just an occasional bolded word in what is otherwise an unrelenting sea of text. You have to wade through it, drowning in it. Wall of text in an almost extreme way. I’m looking at s ection right now and I thought it was a full column of information without a break. I was wrong. There IS a slight indent for new paragraphs, but it’s hard to see. You just can’t pick anything out of it. And then there’s the read-aloud. In italics, of course, so it’s hard on the eyes to read. And it, also, tends to the long side more often than not, sometimes multiple paragraphs. Which means that the players lose interest in the monologue and pull out their phones and start  swiping left. Terse, evocative, punchy. Everything in the adventure contributes to the whole. 

Let’s pop on over to design. You start on a road to a village. It’s a kinbd of hex crawl journey, along the road. There’s only one populated hex along the way so the other hexes are just wanderer rolls. Each hex is two miles long and you make a wanderer check in each hex. That’s fifty wanderer checks. And you just start in the middle of the road. You’re not specifically coming FROM somewhere or something. Which means tha the designer specifically selected starting the party fifty wanderer checks away from the village they are heading to. I just don’t get this. It was obviously not run this way; there’s no way that makes it past playtesting, even by the designer. Worry not though, if youhave no positive checks for wanderers the designer advises just tossing some encounters at the party anyway in order to keep things interesting. There is clearly a disconnect here between modern gaming and OSR gaming, where you are specifically trying to avoid most fights and rolling dice because you are so squishy and take so long to heal. But, whatever. Oh, I’ll tell you whatever, it’s also a Race Against Time adventure! You get eight days to find the temple and then four more till the serpent queen makes it to full power. Get to hacking you fucks! Healbot gonna healbot, I guess …

Let’s look at the writing in the adventure. “In this 30′ x 15′ chamber, the priests of Sass’Ra conducted cleansing rituals prior to engaging in ceremonial activities. It also served as a storage space for potions and sacred fluids central to their practices.” Isn’t that fun! You learned about the history of the room! And the room dimension, already found on the map! The fucking adventure is FULL of backstory. EVERYTHING gets a backstory. It’s all in that tiny three column font shit and you never know what is relevent and what isn’t. I fucking hate it. I want to play the fucking game not learn history. The focus on the text should be on information that is gameable. Not on tangential information. Sure, you can drop some shit in here and there, especially if the DM can riff on it. But we’re not making a historical study of the fucking ruin. 

Worry nt though, the read-aloud text also over-reveals information. Why engage in the trivial back and forth between the DM and players that is the heart of the game when you can now get all of the details in the read-aloud and just concentrate on rolling the dice in order to kill whoever is in the room, that WILL attack immediatly. But, also, there’s no order of battle, so everyone is just standing in place and dying with no reactions to nearby rooms, etc. I guess that famous snake/yaun-ti hearing is fucked. All you’re doing here is killing shit. Walk in to a room and kill shit. Walk in to another room and kill shit. I understand that one of my favs, G1, was essentially the same, but somehow there was some variety there. The whip thing. The orc rebellion. The giant intrigue. This has noe of that. There’s no real crumbling jungle temple vibe. No real snake man vibe. Just enter a room and kill something. 

“shadows seem to push against your flickering light” I think not.

This is $9 at DriveThru. The preview is twelve pages. More than enough to get a sense of the challenges you face as a DM.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/484979/the-temple-of-the-serpent-queen-swords-wizardry?1892600