Mystery Men! Let's Go!

Perhaps one of the saddest departures from television in the last few years, for me, was the Aquabat Super Show! The Aquabats are not just the greatest band to ever punch a tortilla monster in the face, they’re also bona fide superheroes, clashing with the likes of Cobra Man and Space Monster M.

In addition, they’re the perfect superheroes to stat up for Mystery Men! Second Edition, on sale now as a PDF at both Rpgnow and Lulu.com! The second edition cleans up a few errors in the first edition and streamlines the powers a bit, all while keeping character creation fun and easy, and game play just as fun and easy. It’s an old school take on superhero gaming, with a sample setting – Shore City – a sample adventure – “All Fall Down” – and skads of heroes and villains all ready to be battled. All for $6.99!

And now … the Aquabats!

M.C. Bat Commander (Super Hero)
Christian Jacobs, Lead Singer

The M.C. Bat Commander is the ever-brave, ever-pugnacious leader of the gang. While not the world’s greatest tactician, he is supremely skilled at winging it. His distinctive face decoration is designed to thwart ne’er-do-wells who would vandalize his face on posters.

Like all of the Aquabats, the Bat Commander has the following pieces of gear: An anti-negativity helmet, radioactive rash guards, and a power belt to allow him to enter “stealth mode”.
The ‘bats also have their Battle Tram, a hi-tech RV capable of flight and survival in Outer Space!

STR: 3
DEX: 3
CON: 5/+1
INT: 3
WIS: 2
CHA: 4/+1

LVL: 6
HP: 27
ATK: +5
AC: 12
XP Value: 4,850

Powers
Weapon Master (meta-, fists)

Gear
Anti-negativity helmet
Radioactive rash guard (resistance to radiation)
Power belt (invisibility, 1/day for 5 minutes)
Battle Tram (RV + rocket launcher, fly, immunity to vacuum)

Crash McLarson (Super Hero)
Chad Larson, Bass Guitar

Crash is a man-child, strong and sensitive and prone to becoming a giant when he becomes emotional. He’s the heart and soul of the Aquabats, and once met a genie that looked surprisingly like Rip Taylor.

STR: 6/+1
DEX: 2
CON: 4/+1
INT: 2
WIS: 2
CHA: 4/+1

LVL: 12
HP: 54
ATK: +9
AC: 12
XP Value: 4,075

Powers
Enlarge (cosmic; but only when emotional)
Weapon Master (meta-, fists, vs. sharks only)

Gear
Anti-negativity helmet
Radioactive rash guard (resistance to radiation)
Power belt (invisibility, 1/day for 5 minutes)

Jimmy the Robot (Super Hero)
James Briggs, Keyboard and Saxophone

The most logical and mature of the band, Jimmy the Robot was built by a farming scientist to pick apples, but instead went to the big city and joined a superhero band.

STR: 4/+1
DEX: 3
CON: 4/+1
INT: 12/+3
WIS: 4/+1
CHA: 3

LVL: 6
HP: 27
ATK: +5
AC: 14
XP Value: 5,000

Powers
Invulnerability (meta-)
Power bolt (lasers)
Sense vibrations
Super science (10,000 XP)
Super intelligence (meta-)

Gear
Anti-negativity helmet
Radioactive rash guard (resistance to radiation)
Power belt (invisibility, 1/day for 5 minutes)

Ricky Fitness (Super Hero)
Richard Falomir, Drums

Teenage heart-throb Ricky Fitness loves the ladies, but not as much as he loved fresh veggies!

STR: 3
DEX: 6/+1
CON: 3
INT: 3
WIS: 2
CHA: 5/+1

LVL: 10
HP: 35
ATK: +8
AC: 13
XP Value: 4,250

Powers
Super Speed (meta-)

Gear
Anti-negativity helmet
Radioactive rash guard (resistance to radiation)
Power belt (invisibility, 1/day for 5 minutes)
Drum-Copter (mini-helicopter with the equivalent of a non-lethal heavy machine gun)

Eagle “Bones” Falconhawk (Super Hero)
Ian Fowles, Guitar

Perhaps the most determined member of the band to right wrongs, Eagle “Bones” Falconhawk has an evil brother called Eagleclaw and enjoys a relationship with the Sun Spirit, Lou Diamond Phillips. His eagle, The Dude, is an invisible spirit eagle. So he has that going for him.

STR: 3
DEX: 5/+1
CON: 3
INT: 3
WIS: 4/+1
CHA: 4/+1

LVL: 11
HP: 39
ATK: +9
AC: 12
XP Value: 4,250

Powers
Conjuration*
Sense Vibrations

Gear
Anti-negativity helmet
Radioactive rash guard (resistance to radiation)
Power belt (invisibility, 1/day for 5 minutes)
Electric guitar (power bolt-electricity)

* Falconhawk can summon The Dude, an invisible eagle. The eagle hangs around long enough to perform one task, and he probably can’t do it more than once per game.

Side Note 1: If you have the chance to go to an Aquabats show, do it. Fun shows, chill music, crazy audiences, a fight with a man in a rubber suit on stage ... you cannot miss with these guys.

Side Note 2: How many other superhero games are there that have published stats for the Aquabats, Action League Now AND Fonzi? Go buy the game, for crying out loud!

Found HERE

Mystery Men - Out of the Shadows

Two years ago to this day, I announced that Fat Goblin Games was going to produce a revised version of Mystery Men!, with new art, new layout, etc. To that end, I pulled the existing version off the digital shelves.

Well, 730 days later, the revised Mystery Men! did not materialize. I took a stab at a collaboration, and in this case it didn't work out. Chalk it up to earned experience (without a 10% XP bonus because of my low Wisdom score).

Fortunately, my contract with those folks is over, and Mystery Men! is back. I have re-instated the original MM!, digital and print, to my spotlight on Lulu.com. As before, the PDF is free, the print version costs $7.99.

You might want to hold off on buying the print version, though, because the next step is the official, long-awaited revision of the game, which will be released in early 2016. I need to get GRIT & VIGOR on sale first, partially because I just need to get it done, and partially because I want to make sure MM! and G&V are generally compatible. Once it is out, I will tweak the revised text I wrote two years ago, work on the layout, and get that sucker up for sale. I'm hoping for January release.

2016 is going to be my year of revisions. Mystery Men! will probably be first. Blood & Treasure will follow, with new covers I commissioned, as well as Pars Fortuna (I was going to make it Blood & Treasure-compatible, but I might make it Bloody Basic compatible, since those games have a similar vibe) and Space Princess (aiming at G&V compatibility for that one as well). In the meantime, I'll keep publishing NOD and Quick & Easy games, and I'll begin working on combining old issues of NOD into full-blown hex crawl adventures in their own right, and pulling those old mags off the market to let them become collectors items. I'm also in talks with a friend to design a nice, new Land of Nod website. Should be fun.

So keep your eyes peeled, folks, the mystery men are on their way!

Return of the Mystery Men!

It was a couple weeks ago that I received a very kind email from Rick Hershey at Fat Goblin Games. He informed me that he would love to have a go at publishing Mystery Men!, with new art and new layout, and a bit more punch in its marketing. Since I was planning to do a small revision of the game in 2014 anyways, I figured what-the-hey - why not have a go at it.

So, revise I did - nothing major. Tidied up the super powers a bit, made the feat system a little easier to use (I hope) and fixed a few typographical errors. Today, I got a glimpse of the new layout ...

I dig it!

The plan is to spin the monsters into a separate book with a gaggle of super villains. I'm pretty excited about the project, and hopefully it will put the game in front a few more eyes. In the meantime, you'll find it absent from my Lulu spotlight. If your interest has been piqued, stay tuned ...

Weird Beard [Mystery Men!]

Professor Bartholomew Vandyke was working on the regeneration of human tissue when he accidentally created a strange, living filament. While working with a large number of these filaments, he discovered to his chagrin that they had a mind of their own. The parasitic filaments attached themselves to his face, something in the manner of a beard. This intrigued Vandyke, as he found he could communicate with the filaments and control them. They could grow, stretch and manipulate objects.

While pleased with his new-found powers, and convinced he had made an important discovery, Professor Vandyke was annoyed at the new nickname his students at Shore City University gave him: Weird Beard. More distressing was the news that he had been denied tenure and that his funding had been cut off, as the university felt he had made no serious progress in his research. Vowing then and there to continue his research, Vandyke took up the mantle of Weird Beard, criminal scientist, and began staging robberies to fund his research. Ultimately, his schemes were foiled by Captain Triumph.

Weird Beard would go on to plague the heroes of Shore City (and beyond) many more time, his research leading him to cloning experiments, the creation of franken-zombies and his infamous hair-animation ray.

LVL 7 | STR 2 | DEX 2 | CON 2 | INT 6 | WIL 4 | CHA 2 | HP 7d8 | DC 10 | ATK +6 | SPD 2 | XP 8,750 (50,000 XP)

POWERS*: Super Intelligence [6]-Add +6 to all Int feats + logic, make whole, understand language, speak language, discern lie

GEAR: Beard Filaments (Freestyle [5]-elasticity; Invulnerability [3]- Add 3 to DC + endure elements, shield other; Beard is DC 15, HP 15)

* Weird Beard uses the new power pack system published in NOD

Power Packs: Alternative Power System [Mystery Men!]

I like to take walks - usually 2 or 3 miles. Clears the head, good exercise, etc. Also gives my mind time to wander without external influence from radio/tv/internet.

So, the other day I was walking about and an idea for a new system of buying super powers for Mystery Men! flew in and took roost. It took a couple more walks to get it to a point where it would work using an idea I'm calling Power Packs. I'm going to publish the entire thing in the next issue of NOD, but here's a sample ...

--

POWER PACKS

Yeah, I'm a little ashamed. But dang!

Power packs are an alternate way to handle character creation in Mystery Men! Please note that if players and masterminds wish to use this method, the method will need to be adopted by all in the game, as power packs, while blending into the rules as written, can produce more powerful characters than are produced using the normal character creation rules.

With this system, characters purchase power levels in a variety of "power packs". A power pack is a grouping of powers under a single heading. A character with electricity powers, for example, would now purchase power levels in the Electricity power pack, rather than buying individual powers. Within each power pack, individual powers are given a rank. If a character’s power level in a power pack is equal to or greater than a power’s rank, they can access that power automatically. If the power’s rank is higher than their power level, they can attempt a dice roll to activate that power. This gives heroes and villains a greater variety of powers, often at a lower cost than when using the rules as written.

As with the official MM! rules, the cost of powers can still be halved by introducing limitations on power packs. Powers can also still be invested in items, the equivalent XP cost of the powers depending on the power's power rank:

POWER RANK
1.  1,000 XP
2.  2,000 XP
3.  3,000 XP
4.  4,000 XP
5.  6,000 XP
6.  10,000 XP
7.  15,000 XP
8.  25,000 XP
9.  35,000 XP
10.  50,000 XP

ABILITY SCORES
Using this system, characters have ability scores ranked from 1 to 6. Various power packs add their power levels to ability feats and other rolls without actually increasing the ability score. Ability score bonuses with this system are equal to the ability score, thus a score of 6 adds a bonus of +6 to rolls associated with that ability score.

When creating a character, all ability scores start at 3. One ability score can be increased by lowering another ability score by the same amount.

CLASSES
Using this system, all characters can use the same adventurer class. Sorcerers purchase power levels in the Sorcery Power Pack, among others, and Scientists purchase power levels in the Super Intelligence Power Pack.

ACTIVATING POWERS
Powers with a rank (the number in parentheses) equal to or lower than your power level can be activated by you automatically, with no roll of the dice. Powers of a rank higher than your power level can only be activated by a roll of the dice. Subtract your power level from the rank of the power (the number in parentheses after the name of the power). You must roll higher than this number on 1d6 in order to activate the power.

POWER PACKS

Here are a couple sample power packs ...

FORCE FIELDS (6,000 XP/Level)

FORCE MISSILE (1): You fire a single missile of pure force that deals 1d6 points of damage per power level and requires a ranged attack to hit.

SHIELD (1): An invisible disc of force gives you a +4 to DC and completely blocks force and energy missiles. Shield lasts one round per power level.

LEVITATE (3): You levitate up to 100 lb. per power level at rate of ascent or descent of 100 ft. per round.

FORCE SPHERE (5): You create a sphere of force 2 ft. in diameter per power level within a range of 30 ft. The sphere lasts for as long as you concentrate on it. A force sphere is only affected by disintegrate or negate power. A subject inside the sphere can breathe normally, but is otherwise trapped.

FORCE WALL (6): You create an invisible and invulnerable plane of force up to 10 sq. ft. per power level that lasts 1 round per power level. The plane cannot be damaged and it is unaffected by negate power, although it can be destroyed with disintegrate. Dimension hop and teleport can bypass the wall of force, but other powers cannot be used to get through the plane. The plane can be generated as a wall, floor or ceiling, and can be slanted like a ramp.

INVISIBILITY (6): You cannot be seen, but you can be sensed by hearing or scent. Opponents suffer a -5 penalty to hit you in combat. Lasts as long as you concentrate and 1 round per level thereafter.

FORCE CAGE (8): You create a prison cell of force 10 ft x 10 ft x 10 ft that lasts as long as you concentrate on it plus one round per power level thereafter.

FORCE SWORD (8): You create a blade of pure force that appears before you and attacks as monster of your power level. The sword deals 4d6 points of damage per hit and can affect ethereal and incorporeal creatures. The sword lasts as long as you concentrate on it.

MASS INVISIBILITY (8): As Invisibility, but affects you and one other target per power level. Mass Invisibility lasts as long as you concentrate plus 1 round per power level.

FORCE HAND (9): You create a giant hand-shaped force field that can provide a +4 bonus to you DC or can bull rush or grapple as a monster equal to your power level. The hand deals 2d6 points of damage per attacks.

SUPER STRENGTH (2,500 XP/Level)

A character with this power pack adds his power level to all Strength feats, melee attack rolls, and adds 1d6 per power level to damage inflicted with a melee attack.

ADRENALINE (6): For 1 round per power level you increase your STR and CON by +2 (and thus gain bonus on melee attacks and damage and hit points), gain a +1 bonus on WILL feats and suffer a -2 penalty to your Defense Class. The Adrenaline power can only be used once per day.

STOMP (10): You stomp your feet to create a shock wave that knocks people within 10 feet per power level prone (STR feat negates) and inflicts 1d6 points of damage per power level on all who fail their STR feat.

FREESTYLE POWERS
When creating a character, especially an established comic book character, the above power packs often do not quite capture the right powers for the hero or villain. Players and Masterminds alike can, therefore, buy freestyle powers (or powers à la carte). The cost per level for a freestyle power depends on the power's rank.

POWER RANK
1.  50 XP/power level
2.  100 XP/power level
3. 150 XP/power level
4. 200 XP/power level
5. 300 XP/power level
6. 500 XP/power level
7. 800 XP/power level
8. 1,000 XP/power level
9. 1,500 XP/power level
10. 2,000 XP/power level

SAMPLE CHARACTER: VECTRIX
Here's a quick sample character who uses the Force Fields power pack above. This character is built with 50,000 XP.

LEVEL 9 | HP 58 | DC 15 | SPD 2 | XP 14,000

STR 2 | DEX 5 | CON 2 | INT 3 | WIL 2 | CHA 4

Power Packs: Force Fields [6]

Auto Powers: Force Missile (6d6), Shield (6 rounds), Levitate (600 lbs.), Force Sphere (12-ft. diameter), Force Wall (60 ft.; 6 rounds), Invisibility (6 rounds after concentration)

Activated Powers: Force Cage [3-6], Force Sword [3-6], Mass Invisibility [3-6], Force Hand [4-6]

With her 6 levels in Force Fields, Vectrix can access the following powers automatically: Force missile, shield, levitate, and force sphere. The other powers can be accessed by making an activation check. The numbers needed on a 1d6 roll to activate a power are included above.

Gentleman Dog [Mystery Men!]

Philo was a sophisticated man about town, a bon vivant with a mind like a steel trap. While he spent his days with the smart set, at night he often rubbed shoulders with a rougher element, aiding the New York City police when a crime proved too tough to solve. It was a day trip into Greenwich village, though, that proved his undoing.

A trip to a coffee house in Greenwich led to the discovery of a murder in the backroom, and through his investigations, Philo found himself confronting a rather powerful magician, one Hayden Olivier. Hayden murdered the woman in the coffee house accidentally, but has no intention of serving time in prison. More importantly, he has discovered in murder a powerful new form of magic, and now sets his sights on another, a sorceress of no mean ability named Leah. In the final scene of Philo's case, he found himself caught between the two sorcerers, and though Olivier was forced to quite this plane, mortally wounded, he left behind a dead rival and a transformed detective. Philo was now a dog - a cunning, dashing little hound, of course, but a dog just the same. With her dying breath, Leah lays down a final, tender curse upon Philo - that he should live until the magic was reversed.

So it was that Philo became known as Gentleman Dog, a surprisingly cunning beast with a strange knack for making himself understood. With top hat and monocle, he lives an almost immortal existence, solving crimes and seeking out practitioners of the occult in hopes of reversing Hayden's curse.

GENTLEMAN DOG, Adventurer 7 (Dog, Detective)
STR 1 (+0) | DEX 4 (+1) | CON 4 (+1) | INT 9 (+2) | WIL 5 (+1) | CHA 7 (+2)
HP 35 | DC 11 | ATK +6 (+6 melee, +7 ranged) | SPD 3 | XP 8,125 (start with 25,000 XP)

Ability Boosts: Charisma +4, Constitution +1, Dexterity +2, Intelligence +6

Powers: Sending (must make eye contact, humans only, short messages that come to the person as sudden realizations), Super Speed +1

Gear: Top hat, monocle, pipe

Found here ... yeah, all this, because I found a picture of a dog in a top hat with a pipe and had to do something with it ... I am at least proud that I managed to turn it into a half-assed mash-up of Philo Vance and Aleister Crowley. 

PS - Anyone out there want to do a comic book set in the "Mystery Men! Universe" - or maybe more properly the Shore City Universe? If so, let me know. I'd love to publish some 1 or 2 page quickie stories in Land of Nod.

Crystar for Mystery Men! Swords & Sorcery

We've done the granddaddy of Swords and Sorcery - that Cimmerian guy - and his female counterpart - the red head. I delved into cartoons with She-Ra. Now to go into another character that mixes Swords, Sorcery and Superheroes ... Crystar.

Crystar was born when somebody got the idea to use see-through plastic to make toys. In the Saga of Crystar his origin involved demon lords, magic crystals and such. Ultimately, Crystar became a living, fighting gemstone with a sword. Really, the Sage has everything you need for a good S&S game - demon lords, Chaos War, a guy named Feldspar.

CRYSTAR, Adventurer 7 (Prince of Crystallium)
STR 16 (+8) | DEX 4 (+2) | CON 8 (+4) | INT 2 (+1) | WIL 5 (+2) | CHA 8 (+4)
HP 58 | DC 16 | ATK +6 (+14 melee, +8 ranged) | SPD 2 | XP 9,700

Ability Boosts: Str +10, Con +3, Cha +4

Powers: Adapt Body (Fire/Lava), Invulnerability II, Weapon Master (Longsword)

Gear: Longsword (Potent Attack; 1d8+11, can hit ethereal and incorporeal creatures), Shield (Shield)

Since I've got Crystar up there, I might as well stat up a couple similarly themed monsters.

MAGMIN
LVL 2 | PH 4 | MN 3 | DC 17 | SPD 2 | XP 3300

Attacks: Burning fist (1d6 + 1d6 fire + save or catch fire)

Powers: Fiery Aura (30 ft. radius; save or 1d6 heat damage), Melt Metal Weapons (save to negate), Immune to Fire

CRYSMAL
LVL 6 | PH 5 | MN 3 | DC 21 | SPD 2 (Burrow) | XP 3700


Attacks: Sting (1d6)



Powers: Immune to Fire and Cold, Resistance to Electricity (50%), Animate Object (1 at a time, stone or crystal only), Energy Cone (Psionic Energy), Dimension Hop)

She-Ra and Fantasy Archetypes for Mystery Men!

Illustration by FeiLong EX at DeviantArt

So I was watching She-Ra this morning ...

No, I don't really know why. It was on Me! TV this morning, and I was eating my breakfast, and ... anyhow, when He-Man and all that jazz hit the scene, I was just about too old for it. A friend of mine got all the original He-Man stuff for Hanukkah one year, but I'll admit it didn't do much for me. I was never into fantasy stuff as a kid - I was a Star Wars and G.I. Joe man myself. About the only times I ever handled a He-Man figure was when I was playing with my cousins, who were younger. Now that I'm an adult, though, and a fan of gonzo fantasy/sci-fi, I have to admit you can't go wrong with something as bonkers as He-Man. As I was designing Mystery Men!, I always thought it would be an excellent system for running something like He-Man.

Which brings me back to She-Ra. They were showing what I gathered to be the second episode, since it was the second part of a two-parter and appeared to be introducing the characters. A couple things came to mind.

First, She-Ra was a mega-babe. Yeah, I know, immature. But there it is.

Second, she was a paladin ... or at least I saw her "lay on hands" in the episode.

This got me thinking about some of the archetypes in fantasy games other than the fighter, magic-user and thief, and how they might be done in Mystery Men!

First and foremost, you have the cleric. The cleric could be a sorcerer who devotes more XP to his level (thus getting more hit points and a higher attack bonus) and less to his sorcery pool than your typical sorcerer, or he could be an adventurer who takes a few powers related to healing - maybe embedding them in a holy symbol to cut down on the cost. There is no "turn undead" power per se', but one could use the Fear power and tie is solely to the undead, thus cutting the cost from 10,000 XP to 5,000 XP. If you also embedded it in a holy symbol, you could cut the cost down to 2,500 XP.

That covers the main classes pretty well, which leaves us with the sub-classes.

The assassin could be a thief with the Inflict Wounds power.
Barbarians are just adventurers with the Rage power and maybe Catfall - just look at my previous post on Conan to get the idea.

The bard is probably a sorcerer with a small sorcery pool and the Enthrall and Suggestion powers.

The druid is probably a sorcerer who maybe goes to the trouble of taking Polymorph (self, one animal only) as a power. By and large, you can just use a sorcerer who focuses on druid-y kinds of spells.

The illusionist, and other specialist mages like necromancer, enchanter, etc. is just a sorcerer who picks and chooses his or her spells. No need for special rules.

The monk is really just an adventurer with a few powers - Catfall, Inflict Wounds, etc. - who doesn't wear armor.

The paladin is an adventurer with the Heal Wounds power, probably embedded in a holy symbol or the paladin's sword, along with Remove Impairment.

The ranger is actually a tough one. Tracking is just a task check - no need for anything special there. The extra damage against "giant-class humanoids" or the 3rd edition "favored enemy" could be a limited Inflict Wounds, and thus bought at half price. Maybe throw in things like Weapon Master (longbow), Catfall and Speak With Animals, and you're probably in the right neighborhood.

--

Anyhow, as I finished my eggs this morning, I decided I should throw together some stats for She-Ra, who is a good example of a character that straddles the "swords & sorcery" and "superhero" genres. Enjoy the Princess of Power, and if you're in the middle of a game, why not let her show up and kick Wolverine's ass or something, just for fun ...

SHE-RA, Adventurer 9 (Captain of the Guard, Princess of Power)
STR 13 (+6) | DEX 5 (+2) | CON 5 (+2) | INT 3 (+1) | WIL 3 (+1) | CHA 8 (+4)
HP 63 | DC 16 | ATK +7 (+13 melee, +9 ranged) | SPD 2 | XP 13,900

Ability Boosts: Str +10, Dex +2, Con +2, Cha +5

Powers: Heal Wounds (others), Invulnerability I, Speak with Animals, Strike True

Gear: Longsword (Potent Attack, Shield; 1d8+8, can hit ethereal and incorporeal creatures)

Swords, Sorcery & Mystery Men!

Come on, we all know Thor would have kicked his ass

Although I wrote Mystery Men! as a superhero game, there’s no reason it can’t be used to emulate other genres, so long as they are a bit over the top in terms of power. For the next few weeks, I’m going to delve into the fantasy genre to see how well MM! can emulate swords & sorcery.

Weapons & Equipment
In MM!, all hand weapons are created equally, at least in terms of damage. For a game of MM! Swords & Sorcery, it might be a good idea to substitute the damage ratings from traditional fantasy games – i.e. fists do 1d3, daggers and other small weapons 1d4, and so on, up to two-handed swords and axes doing 1d12 or 2d6 (or whatever).

I would also use the traditional armor values from the SRD.

You might also want to use a traditional approach to buying equipment, allowing to buy 1 gold piece per 10 XP spent to purchase equipment.

Exploration vs. Quests
A game of MM! Swords & Sorcery can be based around site exploration (sandboxes and dungeons) or quests, and will probably be a bit of both. Any storyline or plot you’ve seen in the pulp fantasy that spawned most swords & sorcery comics. The possible advantage of MM! for pulp fantasy is the ability to go solo, since the characters are usually a bit more powerful and their abilities and powers a bit more fluid.

Occupations
MM! bases one’s skills one their occupation, and MM! Swords & Sorcery is no different. To keep things easy, think in terms of classic pulp fantasy tropes: Barbarian, captain of the guard, desert raider, sorcerer, witch, holy man, etc.

Monsters
MM! has a host of monsters already, but naturally a few more won’t hurt. I’ll try to stat one or two with each of these posts.

Heroes and Heroines
The focus of swords & sorcery comics is the heroes, of course, so let’s start with the Granddaddy of them all … that grim fellow who goes about trampling thrones and reluctantly rescuing maidens. In all of these cases, I’m going to go for a 50,000 XP build to keep them awesome. Most of these heroes are low on genuine super powers, so most of the points will go to buying impressive ability scores and a few other little boons, the rest going to a high level and lots of hit points. If you’re going solo into Hyboria, you’ll want those hit points. If you want to start from the beginning of a barbarian’s career, I suggest starting with 10,000 XP and one non-adventuring occupation. For higher amounts of XP, think in terms of one occupation per 10,000 XP to simulate a life’s worth of experiences.

In MM!, an ability score of 1 to 6 represents the human norm. While fantasy characters are always a bit more than human, you might want to limit ability scores to a maximum of 12. You might also want to increase the ability bonuses from +1 per 3 points to +1 per 2 points.

CONAN THE CIMMERIAN, Adventurer Level 14 (Thief, Reaver, Slayer)
STR 8 (+4) | DEX 6 (+3) | CON 6 (+3) | INT 3 (+1) | WIL 4 (+2) | CHA 3 (+1)
HP 110 | DC 17 | ATK +11 (+15 melee, +14 ranged) | SPD 2 | XP 29,330

Ability Boosts: Str +4, Dex +3, Con +5, Int +1, Will +1

Powers: Catfall, Iron Grip, Jump, Weapon Master (Fists, Bastard Sword)

Gear: Atlantean Bastard Sword (1d10+4), chainmail shirt, dagger (1d4 +4), shortbow (1d6+3)

GIANT SNAKE
LVL 11 (83 hp) | PH 8 (+4) | MN 0 (+0) | DC 18 | SPD 2 | XP 1100

ATK Bite (1d10), Constrict (1d10)

WHITE APE
LVL 5 (38 hp) | PH 7 (+4) | MN 0 (+0) | DC 18 | SPD 2 | XP 500

ATK Claws (1d8), Bite (1d8)

Of Fembots and Bikini Machines [Mystery Men!]

During the 1960’s, beach movies by AIP (American International Pictures) briefly ruled the earth. As unfortunately as they might have been (honestly – I like most of them for exactly the reasons movie critics would tell me I should dislike them), their spawn were even stranger.

Enter Doctor Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine, a spy movie (kinda sorta) from AIP. Having just watched this movie over the weekend, I can report that is surprisingly high budget (for the time period and the quality of the picture), and even more amazing – not nearly as bad as it should have been. The presence of Vincent Price as Dr. Goldfoot probably has a lot to do with my forming this opinion, because I am an unabashed fan of his work. I also found the female lead, Susan Hart, surprisingly engaging as Diane (i.e. Number 11), the star of this particular blog post.

I’ll freely admit that I’m no expert on the subject of sexy fembots (though writing those words, I now am forced to wonder why not). I think Dr. Goldfoot may be the originator of the swinging, sexy, sixties fembots that plagued Austin Powers, International Man of Mystery. I know – Maria/Futura/Hel/Robotrix in Metropolis – but she didn’t swing like a pendulum do, so I’m not counting her.

In this case, they are gold bikini clad and possibly made from actual body parts filled with robot parts. They are produced by a large computer-ish machine, so maybe the bio-ingredients are rendered down into a paste and sprayed onto the robot chasis. They appear to do their best to avoid going “all the way” (as the kids say), so whether they are physically capable of going all the way is certainly in question. Diane, Number 11, is said by Dr. Goldfoot to be the most perfect of them – though that doesn’t stop him from torturing her with electro-shocks and menial floor scrubbing when she fails in her mission.

Dr. Goldfoot's plan is simple, and would make a great Mystery Men! adventure. He picks a millionaire out of a magazine, programs his fembot to know what she needs to know to get him, equips the fembots with opera glasses that can jab poison needles into the eyes of their rivals, or lipsticks that shoot laser rays to blow their rivals' head's off, and sends them off to get hitched. They then use their feminine wiles to get power of attorney and then hand over the millionaire's wealth to Dr. Goldfoot. Nice scheme ... and it almost works. Or maybe it does. They never actually establish the SIC (Security International Command if my memory serves) completely foils the mad scientist.

Diane (Super Villainess), Adventurer
Number 11, Fembot
STR 7 | DEX 5 | CON 5 | INT 2 | WIL 2 | CHA 7
LVL 6 | HP 50 | DC 11 | ATK+6 | SPD 2| XP 7K

Powers: Charm (with kiss), Invulnerability III, Legend Lore (only very specific subjects that she has been programmed in), Phase (1/day), Super Cha +4, Super Str +4

Gear: Trench coat, fedora, walkie-talkie (implanted in head)

If we’re going to show the creation, we might as well show the creator.

Doctor Goldfoot (Super Villain), Scientist
True name unknown, Mad Scientist and Reanimator
STR 2 | DEX 3 | CON 6 | INT 12 | WIL 9 | CHA 3
LVL 11 | HP 50 | DC 10 | ATK+6 | SPD 2| XP 17.4K

Powers: Science Pool (30,000 XP)

Gear: Gold shoes with bells on the toes, handgun, super science devices

Mystery Men! Google+ Play Report ... the Conspiracy Revealed!

Google+ has been something of a renaissance for me in terms of actually playing games. At the moment, I'm running two games and playing in two games (and a third game not on Google+). Good times! I thought I'd give readers a glimpse into the games I currently running and throw in a few thoughts on doing "play-by-post" on Google+.

MYSTERY MEN!
I started by Mystery Men! Dark Renaissance campaign in July 2011 and, 810 posts later (yeah, I save them) it's drawing to its conclusion. The idea for the game came from a post by Zak at Playing D&D With Porn Stars - in particular, a post of an old map of Dr. Doom's castle. I thought that assaulting the castle could be pretty cool, and pondered just running a game in which people created heroes and then tried to get into the castle and defeat Dr. Doom.

Ultimately, I decided to make the castle the final scene of a larger campaign, one which was designed as the origin story of a new super hero group. Like the origin stories of the Avengers and Justice League, the campaign would start heroes in different cities and then allow them to follow a string of clues to a grand conspiracy. Google+, with its concept of circles, appeared to be a great way to do this - and in the end, I think it was.

Games of Mystery Men! revolve around the plans of the villain. Dark Renaissance is set in the early 1960's. One fine morning, dozens of military targets across the USA (and, it turns out, the USSR) are attacked by American supervillains. Those who are captured turn out to be brain-washed and all have a common thread - they were living in halfway houses run by a The Helping Hands Foundation, a large charity operation founded by an Oklahoma oil man.

Three heroes quickly latch onto these clues: Orca in Seattle (played by Nathan Sorseth) and two Chicago-based heroes, The Green Mask (played by Reynaldo Madrinan) and Firefly (played by Paul Fini). Orca's own naval base is attacked by a villain called Supersize, and with the help of his fellow SEALs he manages to stop him. In Chicago, a train is stolen by three villains - Pinball King, Shatter and Sunburst - a train holding a massive gold shipment (and a mystery metal called Harmonium) and, coincidentally, the Green Mask's girlfriend.

[Quick aside ... I really like that Google+ uses people's real names. It's much easier to get to know them and I feel less ridiculous than I do when referring to people by their "avatar names"]

Meanwhile, heroes in Washington D.C. and New York are following up on seemingly unrelated crimes. The mind-reading super hero Revenant (played by Andrew Byers) runs into Senator Haskel in his civilian guise and is amazed when he doesn't recognize him. Using his powers, he gets the impression that the senator is not who he seems. Following him to his house, he breaks in as Revenant and is stymied and almost captured by the police. Still - this gets him on the trail!

In New York, a bank is overrun by rats and Nightingale (played by Luke DeGraw) intervenes in her civilian guise. Later that night, she and another heroine, Dynamo (daughter of the original Dynamo, and played by my daughter Alyssa) investigate the robbery and discover that the only thing stolen is from a subterranean vault, with the criminals having come up from below and disappeared into mysterious tunnels underneath New York.

The attacks in the USA and USSR drive both nations into high alert, and war seems a distinct possibility.

Ultimately, Revenant, along with new companion the Bronze Statesman (played by Stefan Grambart), discover that Senator Haskel and several other senators have been replaced by clones. The clones are being produced in the Central American nation of Mexidor, where Orca has already followed a lead - a psychiatric convention of Dr. Emily Roberts, the psychiatrist who treated Supersize. Mexidor is in the grips of a power change from a U.S.-backed government to a Soviet-backed government, and while there he comes into conflict with a Soviet super hero called Malatok ("Hammer").

Bronze Statesman and Revenant finally capture two of the clones as another clone is being delivered to the Virginia coast in the dead of night from a mysterious submarine. The submarine is not Soviet, but rather a Nazi vessel commanded by Baron Doom, an old Nazi super villain now associated with the nation of Fascovia, the sole holdout of fascist nations after WW2. They are recruited by the secret service to go down to Mexidor - where the submarine originated - and take out the cloning operation. Ultimately, they and Orca converge on a villa in the hills in time to fight purple zombies and witness the death of Dr. Mengele - but they fail to stop a seemingly invisible and silent Nazi saucer from picking up Mengele's creation, a sort of Frankenstein monster that is, from the outside, physically perfect.

Meanwhile, Dynamo and Nightingale have some adventures underground, discovering a complex constructed by the Green Sorceress and her underground empire using enslaved mole men. The heroes defeat the Green Empire and free the mole men and take a ride in a underground "super subway" that take them all the way to Greenland! Firefly and Green Mask, working with the US Air Force, end up in Greenland as well, following clues of weird lights seen by fishing boats. The four heroes finally hook up in a subterranean hangar for the Nazi flying saucers. This hangar base holds the laboratory of Marto, a deformed scientist who works for the Green Empire and the Nazis and has developed a machine that transfers super powers from one person to another (using harmonium, an alloy of gold and cavorite). The heroes fight some villains who are using the powers of a band of WW2-era European heroes called the Resistance, and ultimately defeat them and free the Resistance members and other captives. Unfortunately, several saucers escape the hangar before it self-destructs. Firefly, Green Mask, Dynamo and Nightingale steal a spare saucer and head back to the US base in Iceland.

At this point, the clone conspiracy has been uncovered, and the US and USSR are ready to team up against the real villains - the Nazis. To that end, a conference is held in London attended by all of our heroes. A plan is hatched. While the Resistance and the Soviet heroes known as Secretariat Seven act as a diversion, the American heroes will make the final assault on castle Graufalke in Fascovia.

[In between the Mexidor stuff and Greenland stuff, the heroes got to level up - which in MM! means either banking your XP and going up a level (or not, depends on how many XP we're talking) or spending new XP on power upgrades and such. Bronze Statesman spent a bunch of his XP on new powers that were embedded in a bronze hand bell and became the Bronze Bellman, if you're wondering about the name discrepancies]

And that brings us to today. The heroes entered the castle and found the research lab and Marto's machine, which looked something like a star fish. In the center, a plastic "coffin" holding the Frankenstein body - which now holds the preserved brain of Adolf Hitler! Connected to it are several pods holding Nazi supervillains. The switch is thrown and the heroes launch into combat with some lesser villains (the Toad, Armbrust and the Rodent). When the machine stops buzzing, Marto roars with victory. The risen fuhrer rises from his coffin, and promptly falls on his face. As the other villains topped from their pods, the final pod opens to reveal the empowered Captain Nazi, who has rewired the machine and now declares himself the Ubermensch and that today marks the birth of the Fourth Reich.

The assembled heroes are now fighting Captain Nazi (well, the Green Mask is actually lost in the castle - hopefully he'll make it to the fight before it is too late) for the fate of the world!

--

I've found Google+ to be an excellent way to do play-by-post. I have noticed that when a thread gets too long, participants are sometimes not notified of new posts (though I always was), so you'll want to change threads whenever it makes sense (after combats, new scenes, etc.). Like all play-by-post games, busy Referees will appreciate the ability to think moves through, as I certainly have.

I'm currently running two groups through Nod on Google+, and when the Mystery Men! game is finished, and after a little break, I plan to start up a Space Princess game set in the catacombs of Mars. That will probably be followed by a Pars Fortuna game, and then back to Mystery Men! I plan to keep the Nod game running as long as there are players who want to play in the mega-sandbox - so if you'd like to join in, just let me know.

Big, Green and Plenty Mean [Monster]

In honor of the new John Carter movie (no, I haven't seen it), and the fact that this kick ass illustration is in the public domain, I present everyone's favorite green, four armed aliens for a variety of systems with the serial numbers just barely filed off.

Consider this baby Open Game Content.

ZHARKS (GREEN MARTIANS)

Illustration by J. Allen St. John

Zharks are tall (18-ft for males, 12-ft for females) humanoids who inhabit ruined cities in great wastelands. Exceptionally warlike and cruel, they form great hordes that compete, violently, for resources and slaves. Zharks have long torsos that support four arms, one pair located about 2 feet above the other. They have large eyes, ear stalks on the top of their bald heads, and great tusks jutting from their mouths. Zharks have olive green to dark green skin that is thick and waxy, helping to keep their bodies from losing too much moisture in the warm deserts they call home.

Zharks arm themselves with swords, spears and radium guns. These guns are exceptionally long rifles that fire bullets with a core of radium. When the outer casing of the bullets cracks and the radium is exposed to sunlight, it explodes for an additional 1d6 points of damage. Some zharks carry smaller radium pistols. The zharks acquire their more high-tech weaponry from others, for they are only capable of crafting primitive weapons.

Zharks are usually mounted on eight-legged monsters called zhotes. Their arch enemies are the girallons.

BLOOD & TREASURE
Zhark, Large Monstrous Humanoid, Chaotic, Average Intelligence
HD 5; AC 14; Atk 4 weapon attacks; Move 40; Saves F 12, R 11, W 11; XP 250; Special: None.

SWORDS & WIZARDRY

Zhark: HD 5; AC 5 [14]; Atk 4 weapon attacks; Move 15; Save 12; CL/XP 5/240; Special: None.

MYSTERY MEN

Zhark: LVL 5; PH 7 (+2); MN 3; DC 15; SPD 2; XP 500; Atk 4 weapon attacks.

SPACE PRINCESS

Zhark: HD 5; DEF 16; FIGHT 12 (1d10); SHOOT 9 (2d6); MOVE N; STR 7; DEX 4; MEN 5; KNO 3; DL 6; Special: Can make a total of four attacks each round.

Monster Matinee - Attack of the Crab Monsters

I'm working my way through the public domain sci-fi/horror movies on Pub-D-Hub, and last night I took in Roger Corman's Attack of the Crab Monsters (1957).

Spoilers are a comin', so be warned.

The combination of "Corman" and "Crab Monsters" doesn't fill a person with much hope. The monsters, I assumed, would either be men in rubber suits or green-screened crabs made to look giant harassing a bunch of strangers, etc. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. It is a movie in the sub-genre of "group of people menaced by monsters, dying one by one", but had some pretty clever details - oh, and one of the characters is played by Russell Johnson, better known as the Professor on Giligan's Island!

Still trying to get a transmitter to work, and not a coconut in sight

The "crab monsters" in the title weren't what I expected. They were giant crabs altered by atomic tests on an island. As it was described in the movie, they weren't just enlarged crabs. Their atoms had been detached from one another in such a manner that they were in a semi-liquid state - liquid given a permanent shape. Their weird atomic structure has given them additional abilities. When the crabs consume people, their atoms simply join the crab's atoms, making them a sentient part of the crab. Several people's minds and memories can exist within the crab simultaneously, and though they retain their memories, their personalities change. They now seek the continued survival of the crab, even if that means killing former friends. The crab's are also capable of transmitting telepathic messages via bits of metal, these messages being in the voice of the people that have absorbed. The crabs can regenerate body parts and generate significant amounts of heat, but electricity turns them quickly to dust.

The giant crabs, there are two in the film initially, are intent on destroying their island to keep people from discovering their existence. One of them is "with child", and once the crabs have increased their numbers under the waves, they plan on expanding their dominion. They are destroying the island using dynamite they have captured from the various groups of soldiers and scientists that have come to investigate an aircraft that crashed near the island.

Naturally, a monster this creative needs some game stats!

Crab Monster (Blood & Treasure)
Large Magical Beast, Neutral, Average Intelligence; Cast (1d6)

HD 6; AC 14; Atk 2 claws (2d6 + grapple); Speed 30 (Swim 20); Save F6, R7, W10; XP 600; Special: Immune to fire, generate heat, resistance to physical weapons, vulnerable to electricity, consume memories, telepathy 300-ft. (transmits through metal).

Crab monsters can generate heat in a radius of 30 feet. This can be done three times per day and 10 minutes at a time, and all in the radius suffer 1d4 points of damage per round. Metal in the area of effect is affected as per the heat metal spell.

Crab Monster (Mystery Men!)

Level 6; Physique 5; Mentality 5; DC 16; SPD 2; XP 2800; ATK 2 claws (2d6); POW consume memories*, correspond, energy burst (fire), energy immunity (fire, lasers), energy vulnerability (electricity), half damage from physical attacks

When a crab monster consumes a person, they add their mind to their own. These minds remain independent, but are now part of the crab and work for the crab's survival and interests, even turning on former allies. The crab can correspond telepathically using the voices of the people it has consumed. Increase the crab's Mentality score to that of the highest Intelligence it has consumed. Any psychic powers possessed by a person consumed by the crab monster are now possessed by the crab monster.

Crab Monster (Space Princess)

HD 6 | DEF 19 | FIGHT 12 (2d6) | SHOOT 11 | MOVE N | STR 6 | DEX 5 | MEN 4 | KNO 4 | DL 9

Crab monsters are immune to fire and heat, and suffer only half damage from lasers and ray guns and from physical attacks. Electricity attacks inflict double damage on them. Crab monsters absorb the KNO and MEN of people they consume, increasing their values to the highest value they have consumed. They also absorb the psychic powers and knowledge-based skills of people they consume, though they might not be able to use these skills due to physical limitations. Crab monsters communicate telepathically using the voices of the people they have absorbed. This telepathy can only be heard through metal.

Starman [Mystery Men!]

I just watched the public domain flick Atomic Rulers on Pub-D-Hub. It's a wonderful little dubbed Japanese film from 1965 about the superhero Starman. If you have an hour to kill and aren't allergic to old special effects, I highly suggest it - most entertaining! Oh - and don't be fooled by the intro music - you're not in Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood.

STARMAN

Image found at Black Sun

Starman (known as Super Giant in Japan and Spaceman in France) is an android created by the Emerald Hierarchy (awesome name), who rule the Emerald Planet and do their best to keep the universe free of harmful radiation (yeah, apparently they're not too up on their physics - still, they mean well). He derives his powers from his android body and from his Globemeter, a device he wears on his wrist. He claims to be the friend of all children, a claim which may one day bring him into conflict with Gamera.

Adventurer Level 8

STR 10 (+3) | DEX 10 (+3) | CON 10 (+3) | INT 3 (+0) | WIL 4 (+1) | CHA 2 (+0)

HP 65 | DC 17 | SPD 2 | ATK +6 (+9 melee, +9 ranged)

Powers: Invulnerability III, Super Constitution +7, Super Dexterity +6, Super Strength +7

Gear: Globemeter (DC 16, 3d6 HP; Adapt Body (Space), Detect Radiation, Disguise, Flight, Understand Language)

Space Princess Inspiration ... Power Nelson!

Yesterday, Golden Age Comic Book Stories featured a Power Nelson comic with art by Dick Sprang (one of the greatest names ever). The combination of “out-there” science and old school art makes it a nice source of inspiration for Space Princess, so let’s have at it. We’ll begin with Power Nelson himself.

According to the Public Domain Super Heroes Wiki, Nelson comes from the unimaginable year of 1982, when two world wars had left the people of earth defenseless against a Mongol horde led by Emperor Seng I. Seng now rules from his palace in New-New York (yeah, they beat Futurama by half a century). A group of scientists have endowed Gene West with superhuman powers. When fighting the Mongols, he goes by the name Power Nelson (which is kinda weird, if you think about it – it’s like if Clark Kent called himself Super Hank when he put on his tights).

For Space Princess, Power Nelson is a perfect candidate for being an Atomic Superman. We’ll make him a combination Star Warrior / Atomic Superman:

POWER NELSON – Star Warrior (Veteran)
STR 10 | DEX 4 | MEN 3 | KNO 3 | HD 6 (34 hp) | DEF 16 | SKILL 6 | LUCK 1
Gear: Light body armor (+2 DEF)

Oh, and just for fun, why not some stats for Mystery Men! as well.

POWER NELSON (Gene West)
Adventurer Level 10 (17,800 XP)
STR 16| DEX 7 | CON 7 | INT 3 | WIL 4 | CHA 3
HP 63 | DC 14 | ATK +5 melee, +5 ranged | SPD 2
Powers & Gear: Invulnerability III (15,000 XP), Super Constitution (3,000 XP), Super Dexterity (3,000 XP), Super Strength (10,000 XP)
Gear: Light Armor (600 XP), Spiked Boots (600 XP)

Yes, those yellow fellows above are the aforementioned Mongols. Since we’re not big on racist stereotypes here in the Land of Nod, we’re going to pretend they look that way because they are aliens from the planet Mongol-IV (which really isn't that much better, to be honest).

MONGOL: Humanoid Alien (+1 DEX, -1 MEN) | Super Hearing

Ugi is the hapless son of the emperor. We’ll make him a rookie Star Warrior with pretty abysmal ability score.

UGI – Star Warrior (Cadet)
STR 2 | DEX 5 | MEN 3 | KNO 3 | HP 20 | DEF 15
Gear: None

Hey - there's an interesting idea. You have a more powerful character adventuring with a bunch of lower level characters - how do you balance things? Give the powerful character his own personal Gilligan!

The scientists whip Power Nelson up a pretty slick spaceship in almost no time. From the size of it, I’d call it a blockade runner by Space Princess standards. Soon, he and Ugi are off to the planet Pluvius in search of radium needed to combat the green plague that is dropping people like flies in New-New York.

On the surface of Pluvius, they run smack-dab into a Tentacle Plant!

TENTACLE PLANT: HD 4 | DEF 18 | FIGHT 14 (1d8 tentacles x 6) | SHOOT 8 | MOVE n/a | STR 10 | DEX 4 | MEN 5 | KNO - | DL 5

Special: Those hit by the tentacles must make a STR test or be swallowed whole the next round, suffering 1d6 points of automatic suffocation and squeezing damage per round thereafter.

Next, the Gilligan of New-New York leaps into a yellow pool (why would you jump into a yellow pool to clean off?) that shrinks him to one-fifth his normal size. What a nice touch – a great little thing to throw into your next dungeon or space fortress.

The Ref is really socking it to them with the random encounters – now a Croco-Tiger!

CROCO-TIGER: HD 10 | DEF 17 | FIGHT 25 (2d6 bite) | SHOOT - | MOVE n/a | STR 15 | DEX 5 | MEN 3 | KNO 1 | DL 16

Power Nelson grabs him by his upper jaw and flings him into the yellow pool, shrinking him. Croco-tiggers definitely do not love strange yellow pools most of all.

Across the desert and another random encounter – Pluvian archers – maybe one of the best things I’ve seen all week. It’s like they’re wearing some kind of rubber armor.

PLUVIAN ARCHER: HD 1 | DEF 16 | FIGHT 5 | SHOOT 4 | MOVE n/a | STR 4 | DEX 3 | MEN 4 | KNO 3 | DL 2
Gear: Vulcanized Armor (+2 DEF, missed attacks by blunt weapons turn back on their attacker; super-science DC 15), Longbow (1d8 damage)

The king of the Pluvians, Rari, uses a ray gun to bridge the language gap. Essentially a wand of comprehend languages, or for Space Princess a Rosetta Ray (DC 15 super-science).

As with most kings, Rari sends Power Nelson and Ugi on a quest. Capture the queen of the Hairy Guroos and in turn get the radium needed to stop the green plague.

The Hairy Guroos can be portrayed as cloned cavemen armed with spears. Not surprisingly, Queen Wodo is a bit more attractive than her people.

Radium Catapult!!!

RADIUM CATAPULT: Range 100 paces; victim loses 1d10 points of strength. If reduced to STR 0, the victim is left unconscious.

Dungeon of Spikes!!! 

Damn this is a great comic. No stats needed for this one - you have an hour to live - straight up.

Just as Power Nelson is about to be killed, a "strange arm" appears with the antidote for the raw radium that sapped his strength. It’s Princess Leelee, the rightful Queen and a true space princess if ever there was one.

Health is not enough! - great motto

A quick kidnapping of the evil queen, and Power Nelson gets his radium and saves the world. Not bad for 15 pages of work.

But what of the cover? Worry not, gentle reader …

BUBBLE TANK: Super-Science DC 65 | HD 20 | DEF 25 | SPEED Slow
Attacks: Three flame throwers in separately controlled turrets (range 100 paces, 4d6 points of damage) and spiked tracks (DEX test against DC 10 to avoid, otherwise trampled for 6d6 points of damage)