80s Video Adventure Helper: Africa by Toto

Watch the video, then think about the questions below. Maybe weave them into your next campaign or scenario.



Why is the bearded guy looking for the book that the page corner he has comes from?

What secret does the picture of the African native hold?

Is the African native that threw the spear real, a dream, a spirit or something else?

What really happened to the library and the librarian?

Filmation Friday: Dark Riders From She-Ra

Here are some pics of the Dark Riders, summoned by the Evil Horde sorceress Shadow Weaver. This happened in the She Ra Princess of Power episode "The Price of Power". I think the monster designs rock.

Bonus RPG Notes! (Spoilers!)

To use the Dark Riders in a D&D campaign for any edition:

• The Dark Riders are summoned by powerful evil sorcerers, necromancers, and clerics.
• They are usually sent to slow down powerful warriors, especially those with flying mounts and magicians.
• The Dark Riders themselves are skeletal warriors who wear a helm, plate mail armor, and wield an ax. They are able follow slightly complicated commands but they can be outwitted.
• The Dark Riders constantly shriek, so they cannot surprise their quarry.
• Their Mounts are winged nightmares. A Mount whose rider is knocked off will go beserk and attack the being responsible. The most common tactic is too drive the attacker to the ground.
• Both the Dark Riders and their Mounts are immune to magic. They can only be destroyed/banished by driving them into the ground, where there explode into a blinding flash.

Use with any edition! Take the stats for skeletons and nightmares, and add the immunity to magic, shrieking and the banishment by touching the ground. Adjust to taste, then send against your party next time the Evil Necromancer(tm) wants to slow your party down.

Jack Kirby Visualizes Wildspace

A year and four days ago, Mr. Maliszewski had a fine little essay about Steve Ditko and Dr. Strange as inspiration for the D&D planes. I was thinking of making a similar point as a filler post before I found the Grognardia piece that pretty much said everything I wanted to.

Then I realized that in his work on Marvel's 2001: A Space Odyssey comic book series, Jack Kirby drew one the best representations of Spelljammer's Wildspace ever!

A Gnomish Spelljammer Sphere behind a massive worldship.

A possible representation of how someone using a spelljamming helm perceives wildspace.

Approaching a crystal sphere.

When someone first sits on a spelljamming helm, their mind adjusts to new vistas of perception.

[Toon RPG] Dudley Battlethumper, Rabbit Barbarian

Inspired by the classic Doom Bunny miniature by Ral Partha, I give you my first Toon RPG character in quite a while.

Dudley Battlethumper, Rabbit Barbarian

Dudley Battlethumper is a 7-foot tall gray rabbit that dresses in plate mail. He travels the Tooniverse in search of treasure and adventure. No one knows what he looks like because he always wears a full helmet wherever he goes. Dudley loves to fight anyone or anything for any reason with his trusty axe and shield. He makes outrageous oaths, and delivers them with a loud voice even when his friends are hiding. When someone tries to knock off or remove his helmet, Dudley goes into a berserk rage that can clear out a room in seconds. Dudley keeps gems, gold, carrots and small paintings of his 125 brothers and sisters in his Back Pocket.

Beliefs & Goals: By the Seven Thunders of Scheimer I live for battle! Finding gems and gold is only bested by the sweet taste of carrots! Smash those ratmen who dare burrow into the warrens of my kin! By Freleng’s Flashing Fists they will fall! Any problem that can be solved by words can be better solved with action! No one shall remove my helmet, this I swear by the Ruby and the Spears! Let my enemies beware!

Hit Points: 15 Speed: 6

Muscle: 7
Break Down Door: 8
Climb: 8
Fight: 9
Pick Up Heavy Thing: 9
Throw: 8

Zip: 5
Dodge: 7
Drive Vehicle: 2
Fire Gun: 7
Jump: 8
Ride: 6
Run: 6
Swim: 5

Smarts: 2
Hide/Spot Hidden: 4
Identify Dangerous Thing: 2
Read: 2
Resist Fast-Talk: 2
See/Hear/Smell: 5
Set/Disarm Trap: 3
Track/Cover Tracks: 3

Chutzpah: 3
Fast-Talk: 3
Pass/Detect Shoddy Goods: 3
Sleight of Hand: 3
Sneak: 3

Shticks:
Incredible Strength: 7
Toughness (Physical): 8
Fantastic Flying Fists and Feet Only When Helmet Is Off: 7

Filmation Friday: Laughing Skeletor!

What the title said. Happy April Fools!

I May Have To Write Some Toon RPG Stuff

IMHO there's not enough material for the Toon game by Steve Jackson Games on the Net. I think I may have to do a little something about that.

Just something to light a little fire under myself.

Fun At deviantART: Fake 80s Grindhouse Movies by leothefox

I was whiling away a Sunday afternoon tooling around the web so I wouldn't fall asleep in the chair. I hadn't been on Deviantart in a while so I went their and started looking around. Put in Fulci in the search engine I stumbled on this...

It's a mock-up for a VHS cover for a fake Lucio Fulci movie called Red Pebble. By the summary on the back back I would have loved the movie that could have been. I thought this was inspired so I took a look at leothefox's deviantART gallery and found these goodies.

These fake covers are great. The art, titles, and back cover blurbs capture that 80s corner store video feel I love. Plus, these covers give me some RPG ideas as well.

Leothefox has a lot of fun stuff in the gallery. Check it out at leothefox's deviantART site!