The Planet Algol Blog

"OLD SCHOOL PULP SWORD AND SORCERY ADVENTURE ON A PLANET OF WEIRD SCIENCE FANTASY"

Planet Algol is one of the best campaign blogs out there. The posts are full of information and ideas. I would say more, but I don't really need to. Go check it out.

Issue #12 of Paperback Fanatic is out!

In this age of the internets there are few publications I buy regularly, Paperback Fanatic is one of those exceptions. Every issue is packed full of information for the paperback collector. The latest issue is out. Go have a look.

Inspiration for the world of Erisa

The other day on the Evil DM message board someone asked about the influences that went into creating the campaign world of Erisa. I thought that others might want to know as well so here is an expanded version of that post.


Akkar-I wanted a religious Mecca, so why not model it after…Mecca (with a bit of Singapore and the Vatican thrown in). In a world of chaos and anarchy Akkar remains inviolate. A place no one would mess with, because if they did not only would the gods come down on them but so would a bazillion true believers. And with all this peace and security comes order, regimen, and very conservative behaviors.

Al- Khalid- a Byzantium type of city-state. Al-Khalid is a huge rich city, yet just one step away from disaster. I made sure that the resources while exotic and valuable were few. I also wanted a “Barbarians at the gates” type of mentality.

Aragos- Medieval Spain is the obvious influence for Aragos. A personal pet peeve with me is the lack of Spanish cultural influences in fantasy literature. The English just about own modern fantasy literature and the Greeks Egyptians have the market cornered on the ancient stuff. But Spain had knights as well; they also had Barbarians just as tough and bloody as the highlander Picts and the Norsemen.

Belsa- Colonial Boston is the real world template for Belsa. Belsa is a prosperous province more than able to sustain itself yet it sends most of its exports to a greedy and decadent throne that gives little in return. The boys in Belsa are starting to have it up to here with the demands from Tyros for more and more grain. The people are asking, “What has the Emperor done for us lately, besides raise our taxes and tariffs?” Sound familiar?

Boskar- was inspired by Gold rush era San Francisco and the HBO Series Deadwood. Boskar is a wide open city where the law of the sword is the only law around. Deadwood was in Indian country, just like Boskar is the difference is that the Sikkar are way more threatening than the Lakota were. Boskar is basically on its own. There isn’t a nation nearby with sufficient forces to intimidate the Sikkar and protect Boskar.

Broaq Nohar- I took elements of fascist Italy and Spain.

Crascia- The Italian renaissance states. Particularly, Florence under the Medici’s. I see a powerful mercantile city that could just as well be on its own. Tyros will have none of that of course so they keep a garrison nearby and the guildsmen of the city arguing amongst themselves- very Machiavellian in tone. The REH story “Rogues in the House” and the Republic of Darokin in the TSR world of Mystara were a big influence in developing Crascia.

Emesa- One of my favorite novels is “King David’s Spaceship” by Jerry Pournelle. In the story there is a large university that has an autonomous status on a warring world. I liked that idea- despite the rest of the world going to hell; there is one place where everyone can go to learn at the feet of sages and scientists. If you were to visit Emesa you would be in San Francisco.

Hogar- In my mind I had the Swiss Cantons of the middle ages, Perrenland from The World of Greyhawk, and (believe it or not) Lake Tahoe. To give them something special I gave them the secret to making the best refined metals in the world.

Jandahar- This place is just sad. It may have once been wondrous and beautiful, but forces within and without have just torn it apart. It’s sad to say but, modern day Lebanon and just about all of Afghanistan’s history has shaped my perception of what Jandahar is.

Kobar- is Iskandar from "The man who would be King". Just watch the movie. And you will see what I see when I think of Kobar. Also, the Arabian Knights cartoon-“Rosan-Kobar!”

Kumar- Libya under Col. Qadaffi

Padjistan - Basra as depicted in the 1940 film "The Thief of Bagdad". I just loved how the Sultan of Basra could care less about his country and his people, as long as he could collect and play with his wonderful toys.

Pyrani-New York, as seen in “Gangs of New York”

Radu- Isengard.

Taurus- The Aquilonian frontier in the Conan stories / the American colonial frontier

Teve- The island of Rhodes when it was controlled by the Knights of St. John and resisting the Sultan of Egypt.

Tyros - the late Roman Empire –five minutes before the fall.

Umbria- Umbria is basically an amalgam of the kingdom of Ethiopia when it was invaded by Fascist Italy and Kuwait after being invaded by Iraq.

Yar - Stygia from the Conan stories, Nazi Germany.

Zandara- Port Kar from the Gor series.

The Sikkar are inspired by the Horseclans novels of Robert Adams and the Wagon Peoples from Nomads of Gor.

Memory lane - 1977

This...


And this...

Lazy Sunday Photo Dump

Those devious bastards!

Legends of Steel - The System?

Legends of Steel in its present form is a campaign world. but there was a short period where I was trying my hand at creating a game system. Nothing revolutionary, mostly ideas from other games that I admired. But once I figured it would be easier to create campaign worlds than to agonize over the mechanics of game design I dropped the project. The other day I ran across the file again and started looking it over. Actually it’s not too bad. It’s no Savage Worlds, but I remember the guys that play tested it having fun. So I cleaned it up a bit and distilled it down to the character generation and combat sections. It’s not really rules lite, and the rules don't fit on the head of a pin, but it is manageable. Anyway Please have a look at it and if anyone can offer any constructive comments, I may pick it up again and see if I can move forward with it. Have a look at the PDF below.

"Ju don make de rules today baby!"

Strike a very cool pose

I've never watched Smallville. I've never been much of a Superman fan. And the young Superman in a small town thing didn't appeal to me at all.

But now I hear that other DC type characters are appearing. Any of you guys seen it recently? The photo looks cool, but do the super-guest appearances deliver?

Legends of Steel Cyber Monday sale at Lulu

25% off all Paperback and Hardcover Books
Coupon code: CYBERBOOKS

Perfect time to purchase that new copy of

Legends of Steel - Barbarians of Lemuria Edition in Hardback.

Or Legends of Steel - Savage Worlds Edition in soft back.

Lazy Sunday Photo Dump

Sock girl alert!

GET OFF MY LAWN! Damn kids...

On the path

My Buddy Mike M. has finally convinced me to try Pathfinder. There is no real reason not to. I had a beef with WOTC about all that 3.0 /3.5 edition bullshit. But that was years ago and Paizo, the creators of Pathfinder had nothing to do with all that. so what the hell, I'll give it a shot. I gave Mike two conditions:

1) I play. I don't DM

2) We do something in an Arabian setting.

Now I just have to come up with the scratch to buy the book. I have the PDF. But Mike came over the other day and showed me the book. Now I NEED to have it.

Here is another cool blog I'll be stealing images from -

Christopher Mills has the coolest blogs. Here is another example: Space 1970

I will be frequently be stealing cool pictures like this...



and this...



from now on.

Manly Monday

Lazy Sunday Photo Dump

Dominic Fortune - How did I miss this?

Proving again that I can't be everywhere at once, I just found out that one of my favorite pulp characters-Dominic Fortune has a a new comic out.

Dominic Fortune (great pulp name btw) was created by Howard Chaykin, and started life over at Atlas Comics.

And he apparently has a thing for Redheads...

Funny!

Legends of Steel – Barbarians of Lemuria Edition in Hardback now at Lulu!

I just received my copy of the Hardback edition of LoS/BoL and I have got to say it is beautiful. I can’t describe the feeling of holding an actual hardback copy of something I wrote. I know a few of you guys are published authors, so please indulge me as I gush.

It’s selling for $35.00 on Lulu, which is a bit steep for most gaming budgets these days, but It is a nice piece of work (there is a sneak peak preview of it at the Lulu site).  The team-up with Beyond Belief Games for this product  is one of the better moves Evil DM Productions has made. 

So if you want a great game and a cool world to play it in then join me and my mom and buy a copy of LoS/BoL in hardback.

They finally got Warlord right!

I just finished the first story arc of the latest re-boot of the Warlord comic. I am happy to report that they finally got it right.  Some may remember a failed attempt a couple of years back to “Re-invent” the Warlord saga. It was a wasted attempt. after the first issue, all the die hard Warlord fans of the original Mike Grell series just shook their heads and said no way.

This latest series puts Grell back in the writers seat and he has Travis Morgan doing what he does best, leading an army in a desperate fight. All the old gang is back as well (Shakira, Machiste, Tara, Jennifer, and Mariah). If you were a fan of the old series, this new run will make you a very happy fanboy.

Manly Monday

Lazy Sunday Photo Dump