Truth, Justice, and…

 Whether it’s “Truth, Justice, and the American Way” or “Truth, Justice, and a Better Tomorrow” Superman would absolutely be anti-I.C.E.

This piece by kevintranart_ and wanted to share.

Amazing Adventures in the Public Domain Issue #1

Y'all know I taking things from the public domain. I've used Public Domain Super Heroes wiki quite a bit on here, particularly with my New Punverse and Punch A Nazi posts. 

Today I received my pdf for Amazing Adventures in the Public Domain #1. Before I dive into I just want to say that the Kevin Maguire Justice League tribute cover is inspired! Written by Matt Bevilacqua and illustrated by Gino Vasconcelos, this book is a toolkit for Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG. Inspired by comics and books from Alan Moore, Philip Jose Farmer, and Warren Ellis, you play a champion pulled from time by Merlin to fight for justice and truth.

The game differs from standard DCC in a few ways. While typical DCC games start with 0-level funnels in which a group of peasants try to survive, in Amazing Adventures in the Public Domain characters play as specific figures of legend.  These heroes are:

• The Terror (The Black Terror)
• The Ghost (Phantom Lady)
• Dorothy Gale
• Achilles
• The Golden Bat
• Santa Claus
• Stardust, the Super Wizard (for an alternate take on Stardust check out Leopard Women of Venus).

While some of these make sense, some are weird choices to me. Ghost, the Black Terror, the Golden Bat, and Stardust all seem quite appropriate. Dorothy Gale and Santa make sense thematically, but don't fit the supers vibe of the others. I'm not complaining, I just would have liked to have seen public domain comic characters. This is a personal preference thing, and honestly its deviating a bit from what Matt set out to make. Now lets take a look at how these figures are presented.

Each of characters is roughly 5th level (all start with a certain amount of HP or 5 hit dice). They also have really good stats and some powerful abilities. However, they don't gain levels or have classes like typical DCC characters. Instead when they advance they can choose from different options (new abilities, stat adjustments, more HP). Each entry also has a related random table (a staple of DCC) and NPC stats for the character. This is a novel approach to DCC and allows the characters to feel superheroic, even from the start. Even in super-centric DCC games like Comic Crawl Classics and Evolved: Super Heroic Time Travel Roleplaying Game starting characters tend to be quite fragile. I really dig the way characters are presented, and I think I'm going to make my own heroes in this style in future posts. I might combine this with some of my other features like Chasing the (Savage) Dragon and Punch a Nazi Week.

There are a few other crunchy bits for players. Merlin is presented as a DCC wizard patron (with three patron spells). Usage Die from The Black Hack has borrowed as well as rote magic from DCC Dying Earth. Due to the time and space aspect of the setting, firearms are present. Matt recommends Crawl Zine #8, which imo is the go-to gun rules for DCC RPG. Damage die various firearms are included.

In addition to the heroic legends and rules, the book includes a short adventure, Shadow Over Kansas. This one is brilliant. A jumping off point to an Amazing Adventures in the Public Domain campaign, the players are sent to early 1900's Kansas by Merlin to stop villainous wizards from taking a young child destined for greatness from the young couple meant to find him. The wizards in question are Joseph Curwen and Murder Legendre! The adventure includes a festival, a nefarious super computer, and a variety of foes. A bon-vivant with connections to Cenobites-with-the-serial-numbers-filed-off, also makes an appearance! I (shamelessly) believe my Brightburn stats would be perfect to use for the destined child if the villains are successful. 

Finally the zine ends with a crossword puzzle, word search, and ads. The advertisements I get, but the puzzles are a little odd to me. 

If you can't tell I adore this one. I can't wait to get my physical copy and use it. As I've mentioned, this one would be great to to use with Comic Crawl Classics, Evolved, and my upcoming Crisis In Infinite Zines #1. Not sure when physical copies will be available to the public, but you can get the pdf on DriveThruRPG by following this link.

Pathetic

 Here’s another anti-I.C.E. piece I found. This time we get DCAU Batman expressing his thoughts. The piece was created by Jordan Gibson.

Dr. Bees Returns (Again)

 I still don't understand why, but I love these videos.

• Dr. Bees and #CHANGETHEBEES
• Dr. Bees Returns

A new Dr. Bees video dropped and it's even more odd that the others.

Satanic Panic

If you want a zine relevant to gaming in the 80's, I highly recommend picking up Satanic Panic from Bloat Games/Bloat Zines. Written and layed out by Mr. Bloat himself, the zine addresses (as the cover says) "why parents in the 1980's lost their fuckin' minds over D&D." The zine is predominantly black and white, though red is used to highlight things and it makes it pop. Christopher Torres and Phil Stone's art is featured throughout the zine. This one is metal and aesthetically pleasing. Although its professionally printed, it has a great punk/metal/DIY vibe.

This one is personal. As he mentions in the zine, Eric's life was made a living hell by ignorant religious folks because of the things he loved as a kid. This is really shown in his scathing takedown of Pat Robertson. I also appreciate Eric discussing the origins of the hysteria and highlights what fueled it. I had no idea that it started in Canada or the full story of person Mazes & Monsters was "based on," Dallas Egbert. Eric's a smart and insightful dude and I appreciated reading his thoughts on things. 

This zine is a hybrid of Bloat zines. In addition to discussion of the topic, it also includes game stats for a few systems and random tables (because random tables):

• d66 Reasons Your Mom Thinks You Are A Satanist
• Ratt Pobertson (5e and Shadowdark) - a craven goblin liar definitely not inspired by a hate-spewing religious leader mentioned earlier.
• Garzax (Demon) with Cultists (OSE) - demon lord of gluttony and his followers
• d12 Raise Your Horns For Satan (the devil's music)
• d12 Occult Inspired Movies
• d66 Games Like Old School D&D
• Satanic Cult Members and Cult Leader Necromancer (SURVIVE THIS!!) - ready to use cult stats for use with Dark Places & Demogorgons and SURVIVE THIS!! games

You can order Satanic Panic from the Bloat Games shop. Don't worry, the zine is only 13 bucks, despite the listed price.

Kaiju Smackdown

I don't do a lot of anime recommendations, but if you are looking for one with great action and heart, you should definitely check out Kaiju No. 8. Check out this awesome Kafka vs Godzilla promo art released before season 2. It was created by Japanese director, Mahiro Maeda.

Vive Le Bruiser!

Le Brusier is one of the more interesting characters in the Invincible universe. Not much is known about the super pooch, other than she was born in France is is probably a French Bulldog. She's also misgendered by her teammates and the public. During the Viltrumite War she was recruited by Brit into the Guardians of the Globe, where she quickly bonded with her teammate Pegasus.

Le Brusier has the common suite of paragon powers: superhuman durability, hearing, smell, speed, strength, and agility. She also has enhanced intellect, being a dog with comparable intelligence to a human.

For this build I made her a 5th level canine using the Rabid Dogs Zine Volume 1 and then added her super powers. If you want more DCC superdog stats, check out the Krypto ones I made for my review of Superman (2025).

Le Brusier: Init +3; Atk +7 bite (1d6+3); Crit I/1d10; AC 15 (small and agile, dex); HD 5d8+15; HP 39; Mov. 60'; Act 1d20; SP dog skills, luck die d4; SV Ref +6; Fort +6; Will +2; AL L

Dog skills: Sneak Silently +12, Hide in Shadows +8, Detect/Follow Scent +12, Pounce +11, Tenacious Grab +11

Evil Has Always Had A Name

The newest Resident Evil game, Resident Evil: Requiem, comes out at the end of the month. The game features a new protagonist and also is supposed to be the send off for series favorite, Leon S. Kennedy. A live action short dropped for the game yesterday. 

This (very) short film tells a story about a mother trying to keep her daughter alive during the events of Resident Evil 2 and 3. Despite the brevity, it packs quite an emotional punch. Even if you don't play the games, check it out.

Chasing the (Savage) Dragon - Ack! Ack!

Mars Attacks Image and Mars Attacks Savage Dragon were intercompany crossovers between Image Comics and Topps Comics in 1996. Unlike most crossovers, these actually affected continuity of the Image universe (at least Erik Larsen's version) and are cannon. I've watched videos about the main story and read the synopsis of the Savage Dragon-centric title. Because Dragon is such an important character these have been added to my Chasing the (Savage) Dragon quest. Of the 8 issues, I only have Mars Attacks Image #4. The other issues aren't too rare, but I'm trying to find them in the wild before I go to eBay.

I've wanted to do some Savage Dragon related DCC content and thought this would be a fun way to start that endeavor. These stats are an amalgamation of the movie, comics, and cards. I also took a lot of inspiration from Tim Snider's Martian Crawl Classics. The Martian death ray pistol is lifted from it. I highly recommend that book and if you want to expand your Martian encounters.

Martian Grunt:  Init +0, Atk +2 unarmed (1d4) or +2 Martian Death Ray Pistol (disintegrate, DC 15 Fort save for 3d6, range 80');  AC 12; HD 2d6; MV 30'; Act 1d20; SP Martian physiology; Fort +2/+0, Ref +0, Will +0; AL C

Martian Physiology: Martians are physically frail and breathe nitrogen and oxygen is toxic to them. In addition to their oxygen intolerance they are greatly affected by certain high pitched sounds. They take 1d6 damage each round they exposed to these sounds. Sound based attacks also have their damage die increased one step.

Martian Death Ray Pistol: This deadly weapon disintegrate those struck by its rays. Creatures must make a DC 15 save or turn to a pile of ashes. Even if the save is successful, the target takes 3d6 damage. The pistol has a range of 80'. The rifle can make four attacks before it needs a new power cell. 

Martian Suit: The armor provides a +4 AC bonus and has a 1d6 fumble die. The protective suit provides full environmental protection and a +2 bonus to Fort saves. The suits are attuned to Martian physiology and the life support creates nitrogen, rather than oxygen.