25 May, 2009
Today’s Tabbloid
PERSONAL NEWS FOR riorio2@rogue-games.net
ROGUE FEED
Pulp Fantasy Library: At the
Earth’s Core
MAY 25, 2009 05:01A.M.
Edgar Rice Burroughs is best known for his “Tarzan” and “Barsoom”
novels, but they’re far from the only successes he had as a writer. He also
wrote another series of novels, beginning with 1914’s At the Earth’s Core.
The novel tells the story of a man who discovers a subterranean realm
known as Pellucidar, which exists at the interior of the world. There he
encounters prehistoric beasts, such as dinosaurs, as well as primitive
humans who have been enslaved by a race of intelligent flying reptiles
known as Mahars.
Like John Carter, the arrival of the novel’s protagonist, David Innes,
signals the dawn of a new era. Moved by the plight of the humans — and
enraptured by the lovely Dian the Beautiful — Innes leads them in a
revolt against the Mahars and helps them to win their freedom. Along
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the way, he also wins the love of Dian, who’d previously rebuffed him,
due to his misunderstanding the culture of the humans of Pellucidar.
Unfortunately, in their attempt to return to the surface, Innes loses Dian
and vows to return to find her once more, thus setting up for the novel’s
immediate sequel, as well as five more, one of which was published
posthumously.
Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World predates At the Earth’s Core by
two years, firmly establishing the literary genre that shares its name
(although several other books from the 19th century predate it and are
arguably the first in the genre). Pellucidar was clearly influenced by its
predecessor, but is written in a much more breezy and adventuresome
style, as one would expect from the creator of Tarzan. For me, it’s a much
better model for pulp fantasy games than is Doyle’s work, which has a
vaguely “serious” tone to it, which probably explains why Gygax includes
Burroughs in Appendix N and not Doyle.
As an aside, the young H.P. Lovecraft was very fond of Burroughs’
stories, including the Pellucidar series, though he distanced himself from
them in later life, calling Burroughs a hack. Nevertheless, some claim
they hear echoes of Burroughs in the name “shoggoth,” which is
remarkably like that of “sagoth,” the ape-like race that serves the Mahar.
I’m not certain how much to make of such claims but it’s interesting
nonetheless.
ROGUE FEED
Thousand Suns: Foundation
Transmissions — To Layout
MAY 24, 2009 05:57P.M.
The next Thousand Suns book is done and is in layout. This book is due
out in August (in time for GenCon) and contains the work of two new
writers who won the contest we held last year. In addition there is new
material by James and myself.
Want to know what is in the book?
I thought so, here is the Table of Contents. Note, this is from the final
file, and does not correspond to the final layout. It is just guide to show
you what you can expect to see.
Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR riorio2@rogue-games.net 25 May, 2009

Thousand Suns: Foundation Transmissions Portal 41

Pinnacle 41
TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 Rook 42
CREDITS 6 Tribulation 43
INTRODUCTION 7 Unueco 43
CHAPTER 1: MOVING THROUGH THE RANKS 9 Zenith 44
Introduction 9 CHPATER 5: CUSTOM WEAPONS 46
Premise Behind Ranks 9 Types of Technologies 46
Example Crew 10 Impacting Mass 46
Military Ranks Mechanics 11 Puncturing Tip 46
Other Considerations 13 Cleaving or Slashing Edge 47
Benefit Points 14 Chemical Agent 47
Standard Equipment 14 Firearms 47
Hooks and Action Points 14 Explosive Charge 47
Other Services and Alternate Terms 14 Sonicarms 48
Army (Imperial Legions) 14 Gravity Projection 48
Marines (Imperial Naval Infantry) 15 Particle Projection 48
Navy (Earthforce) 15 Melee Weapon Handling 49
Navy/Combined (Starfleet) 15 Small (one-handed/two-handed) 49
Navy/Combined (Colonial Forces) 16 Medium (one-handed/two-handed) 49
Final Notes 16 Large or heavy (two-handed only) 49
CHAPTER 2: THE WAYS OF SCHEMING 18 Shaft Mounted (one-handed/two-handed) 49
Step One: Establishing the Scopes 18 Flexible (one-handed/two-handed) 50
Dynamic or Static? 20 Ranged Weapon Handling 50
Step Two: Choosing the Means 21 Pistol 50
In Theory… 21 Shotgun/Chemical Spreader/Siphon 50
In Practice… 21 Bow 51
Step Three: Applying Skills 24 Crossbow 51
Step Four: Interpreting the Results 25 Thrown Projectile 51
Collateral Effects 25 Charge Throwers (grenade throwers, mortars) 51
Opposition 26 Submachine gun 52
Support 26 Assault Rifle 52
Exposure 26 Rifle 52
Recovery Time 27 Machine gun/Light Machine gun 53
CHAPTER 3: THE AURIGAN – NOMADS OF THE THOUSAND SUNS Refinements 53
28 Revolving Barrels 53
Physiology 28 Revolving Magazine 53
Psychology 29 Belt loading 53
History 30 Vibroweapon 54
Society 30 Spread Shot 54
Traits 31 Continuous 54
CHAPTER 4: PLANETS OF THE CORE 32 Pulsated Blast 54
Acropolis 32 Monomolecular 55
Apostolo 32 Barrel Extension 55
Crucible 33 Electrical Ignition 55
Empyrean 34 Field Adaptation 55
Gladsheim 34 Non-lethal 56
Haveno 35 Adding It Up 57
Jianggu 36 Vibro-Bayonet 57
Meridian 36 Flamethrower 58
Novo Tero 37 Gauss Sniper Rifle 59
Obsidian 38 CHAPTER 6: CUSTOM PROTECTION 61
Odin 39 Armor Value 61
Olympus Prime 39 Dissipation Value 61
Osiris 40 Cover Value 62

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Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR riorio2@rogue-games.net 25 May, 2009

Weight 62 Locomotion 88
Bulk 62 Manipulators 90
Cost 62 Armor 92
Coverage 62 Sensors 94
Materials 63 Skill Software 97
Leather or Bone 63 Ability Upgrades 98
Alloy, Basic 63 Robot Accessories 99
Alloy, Advanced 64 CHAPTER 8: A SPACEFARER’S INTRODUCTION TO LINGUA TERRA
Fibers, Natural 64 105
Fibers, Synthetic 65 Alphabet and Pronunciation 105
Polymers 65 Astronomical & Geographical Terms 106
Ceramics 65 Basics 108
Crystalline Lattice 66 Colors 109
Biomechanical Shell 66 Greetings 110
Constructs 66 Names (common for space vessels) 110
Fabric 67 Numbers 114
Plated 67 Places 115
Segmented 67 Political, Titles and Ranks 116
Partial Plate 68
Reactive Assembly 68
Shield 69
Refinements 70
Cheap Imitation 70
Extra Heavy 70
Status Symbol 70 ROGUE FEED
Reflective 71
Camouflage 71 Nifty
Smart Camouflage 71 MAY 24, 2009 02:12P.M.
Photo Dispersive Field 72
Ablative 72
Medical Systems 73
Motorized Assistance 73
Sustenance System 73
Sonic Damper 74
Radiation Shielding 74
Weapon Sponson 74
Jet Packs 75
Deflection Field 75
Adding It Up 76
Police Anti-Riot Shield 76
1st Dragoon Division “Warlord” Armor 76
Imperial Judicator Armor 77
CHAPTER 7: ROBOTS AND ANDROIDS 80
Robots and Tech Levels 80
Robots as Characters 81
Androids 81
Synthetics 82
Non-player Robots 83
Robot Resurrection 84
Robot Frames 84
ARMATURE (Class V) 85
Biomorph (Class V) 85
Android (Class VI) 85
Synthetic (Class VII) 86
Liquid-State (Class VIII) 87

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Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR riorio2@rogue-games.net 25 May, 2009

ROGUE FEED

I am a gamer
MAY 24, 2009 01:07P.M.

I am a gamer.

Games have been a major part of my life for as long as I can remember.

I grew up playing such classics as Candy Land, Mousetrap, Monopoly,

and too many others to mention. I remember when I was in the third
grade I devised a game using my Star Wars figures. Gluing Lincoln Logs
on a large piece of cardboard, the goal was to rescue Princess Leia and
escape the Death Star. I played this game for hours with my friends,
laughing at the truly nasty death cards we made up.

It was not until I entered the 6th grade that I discovered Dungeons &
Dragons. I had no idea what this game was. There was no board. Instead
there were six funny shaped die. It was the summer of 1983 when my
best friend Clayton took the role of Dungeon Master and escorted our
little band into the terror known as Keep on the Borderlands.

The summer was spent either playing soccer of braving the horrors that
Clayton came up with. This was not art; this was a group of kids having a
grand time using their imagination. It was also a group of kids who used
this new game to propel them to study.

Take a gander at this frankly awesome cover of an upcoming supplement

I was always a good student, but it was not until I started playing that I
to White Wolf’s game of anime-inspired ass-kicking, Exalted. Yes, you
was charged with the task to learn everything and anything related to the
heard right: I think it’s awesome.
middle ages. I wanted to know as much as I could, and my friends and I
competed to see who could learn more.
I have no interest in playing Exalted (though I did in the past and in fact
contributed to two supplements for its first edition — shocking!), but I
As I grew up my taste in games changed. I still played D&D, but
can nevertheless appreciate this loving nod to the greatest RPG cover
branched into Top Secret, Star Frontiers, and Boot Hill. It was not until
ever made. It’s extremely well done and, in some ways, a terrific primer
a friend bought a copy of the Middle Earth Role Play that I broke out of
on the inadequacy of being able to “hum the tune” without also “knowing
the TSR ghetto I was stuck in. This one game opened more doors to me
the words.” To its credit, Exalted is unambiguous about its new school-
then I would ever know.
ness, which is why I still have a fondness for it, despite its being
mechanically and esthetically far removed from my own interests and
MERP, lead to Villains & Vigilantes, which lead to Bushido, which lead
preferences.
to more games then you can possibly guess. My taste varied with age,
and I even remember the one summer when I played Rolemaster almost
religiously. I can safely say that the mind numbing charts would forever
sour me on overly complicated games. (Well that summer and the
Rolemaster game I played at Gen Con in 1989).

There were some games that I became hooked on and stuck with for
longer then I care to admit. Marvel Superheroes, is one example of this,
while Ars Magica is another. You can not get much further apart in style
and content than these two games. Yet at the time they were what I was
looking for.

With MSH, I got fast paced super hero action, and was able to tell the
stories that I wanted to. I changed rules to fit my vision, and ignored a

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Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR riorio2@rogue-games.net 25 May, 2009

lot of what was going on in the comic book world. With Ars Magica, my This issue contains posts from between
love for story telling was filled, and I bought into the concept of a shared May 24, 2009 07:05a.m. and May 25, 2009 03:06a.m..
gaming experience. I loved the setting, and for me this is how magic Visit the Rogues on the Web:
should be. Sadly I grew tired of the game and found myself researching http://www.rogue-games.net
more about the Middle Ages and less time writing adventures to
entertain my friends.

Regardless of what games were consuming my attention, two stayed with

me, and were played regularly.

One is D&D. Not AD&D, but D&D. Here is a game that was self
contained and allowed the DM to do what he wanted. From the old Basic
and Expert sets, to D&D Rules Cyclopedia, I ran a campaign that lasted
from 1985 to 1998. This game gave me the tools to make my own world,
and ignored the ever increasing volumes from AD&D.

The other game was Warhammer Fantasy Role Play. To this day I still
do not know what it is about WFRP that first attracted me to it. The
magic system was not finished and to this day the often-promised
Realms of Sorcery has yet seen the light of day. Games Workshop
released product of various quality, and then simply killed the game to
make room for the lead figure juggernaut. The game languished for five-
years until Hogshead took the licenses and slowly began to release new
product.

The one thing that stands out for me is the world Warhammer FRP is set
in. The world was deliciously dark and filled with hopelessness. Chaos
hides behind most things, and often times the only differences between
the “heroes” and villains is that the heroes are PCs. This is a world of
nightmares, a world without heroes. It is a world with a sick sense of
dark humor.

It was all of this which propelled me to write and design. Write and
design I did. However it was not until forming Rogue Games that I
found myself truly coming into a rewakening as to what I love about
games. Before I designed things becasue I felt like I had too, now I design
things becasue I want to.

I am a gamer. I am proud of what I am, and I am proud of what I do.

Posted in Games, Life, thoughts Tagged: Games, thoughts