Chasing the (Savage) Dragon - Malcom Dragon (DCC)

Here's my first attempt at making a character in the style of Amazing Adventures In The Public Domain. Instead of making stats for Kurr Dragon (the original Image Savage Dragon), I thought it would be easier to the series current protagonist, Malcom Dragon. This is extra appropriate because the series regularly uses characters from the Public Domain. I just picked up the most recent issue which features Mickey Mouse, Pete, and Popeye.

Malcom Dragon

• Legacy Hero
• Regenerating powerhouse
• Electric punches

Malcom Dragon is the only child of Kurr Dragon and electrokinetic heroine, Rapture, Malcom Dragon. Thought to have died, he was kidnapped and raised by the Covenant of the Sword, a covert organization bent on world domination. Malcom was raised in another dimension. Upon meeting his father, he decided to become a hero. Malcom is a born leader and protector. He fights for his extended family and those in need.

Starting Equipment

Special Operations Strikeforce uniform

Statistics

• Strength 20 (+4)
• Agility 16  (+2)
• Stamina 20 (+4)
• Personality 12
• Luck 10 
• Intelligence 12 
• Action Die: 1d20+1d14
• Attack Bonus: +5
• Saves: Ref +2, Fort +5, Will +1

Background

Legacy hero, father, and reality tv star

Hit Points & Hit Die

Malcom Dragon starts with 44 HP or 5d12HD. Additional Hit Dice earned through gifts are d12s.

Weapons & Armor

Malcom tends to fight with his bare hands, though due to his police training can use all standard police issue weapons. 

Electric Fists

Malcom tends to deal with threats using his fists. They do 1d10 damage. He can use his inherited electrokinesis to do an extra 1d4 damage with these attacks.

Regeneration

Malcom regains 1d4 HP at the beginning of each of his turns.

Dragon Skin

Malcom takes half damage from all non-magical attacks. His natural AC is 14.

Advancement Options

• Super durability - +1 Strength, can be chosen more than once
• Super strength - +1 Strength, can be chosen more than once
• Increased health - +1 HD, can be chosen more than once
• Taking up the mantle - upgrade all save dice +1d

Malcom Dragon as an NPC

Malcom Dragon: Init +2; Atk +9 electric punch (1d10+1d4+4); Crit IV/1d16; AC 16 (dragon skin, dex); HD 5d12+20*; HP 64/44*; Mov. 30'; Act 1d20+1d14; SP dragon skin, electric fists, regeneration; SV Ref +4; Fort +9, Will +2; AL L

*As presented in Amazing Adventures In The Public Domain his HD should be 5d12 and his HP should be 44. However, I think he should have his Stamina bonus added.

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 Phantasm (Ōgon 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.

Update 2/17/2026

Upon reading the book another time I noticed a few things that need clarified or added. Dorothy Gale and the Ghost are missing NPC stats. Also there is no mention of which Crit Table each legend uses. I've messaged the author about these issues.

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.