One Thousand and One Nights and One Night a role-playing game campaign design ’zine Vol.: 1, Issue: 19, December 15, 2007
Fall Quarter is Over! Earlier this month, I finished my Aero graduate class. At print–time, I do not know my final grade, but I figure I did well. This gives me some time to enjoy the holidays a nd get some more done on the next few 1001+1 issues. I hope that you all have a safe holiday season and I look forward to publishing again i n the new year! See you then!
Yet Another Gaming Podcast Earlier this month, I mentioned gaming podcasts. Another one that I’ve been listening to is the Godzilla Gaming Podcast (www.godzillagamingpodcast.libsyn.com). Mike and Cam are two gamers in Japan and they have lots to say about gaming in English in a foreign country. A great segment of the show is where they talk about Japanese snacks! Some of them sound very interesting. It’s one to listen to when you need that gaming goodness!
Modern Odd Game Design
What I’m Reading: Bloody Benders
This month, I’ve been kicking aroun d the idea of a modern game and have gathered a bunch of things to string together to accomplish that. First, the film National Treasure: The Book of Secrets (Bruckheimer) is coming out soon. I loved the first movie and I anticipate th is one. It’s got a great mix of fact, myth, conjecture and wild speculation that I just love. It’s the perfect flavor of setting for a conspiracy–esque game that I ’d run.
I picked up a copy of Ri ck Geary’s The Saga of the Bloody Bloody Benders Benders (one of his Treasury of Victorian Victorian Murders graphic novels). It’s the story of a family of s erial killers in Kansas that were responsible for over two dozen murders between 1872–73. The Bender family showed up in Labette County , Kansas and built a small store and restaura nt, called the Wayside Inn. The one–room building had a sheet to separate the room in half, with the cooking done on one side and the store and restaurant on the other. The sheet divider was a very important prop in the killings.
Secondly, I’ve been reading stuff on Wikipedia on Wikipedia . I read the listing on The Adventures of Buckar Buckar oo Banzai Acr oss the the 8th Dimension (Sherwood). I came across the following very interesting items: • •
•
a huge robot and a box of Hitler's cigars “Find the Jetcar, Said the President–A Buckaroo Banzai Thriller” Lepers from Saturn.
Then I read in the listing on Philip K. Dick that “Dick “Dick was w as ‘resurrected’ by by his fans in the form of a remote-controlled android designed in his likeness. The android of Philip K. Dick was impanelled in a Sa n Diego Comic Con presentation about the film film adaptation ada ptation of the novel, A Scanner Darkly. In February 2006, an a irline misplaced misplaced the android, and it has not yet been found.” I also read about the (continued on Page 2, First Column)
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A likely victim arrived at the door and was shown a chair, with his back to the sheet. The daughter, a pretty girl named Kate, would t alk with the victim while he ate and get all sorts of information–where they’re going, who they’re meeting and the purpose of their trip. If they were alone and with lots of cash, far from friends, the father John Bender would smash them in the head with a sledge hammer through the sheet. Kate then dragged the body into the cellar and slit the victim’s throat . They’d steal his money, sell his horse and bury the body in the orchard out back. And with times being what they were, the victims were not missed for a long, long time. The Bender s (continued on Page 2, First Column)
published in association with the Corvis Babbage Cliological Society ’zine art is either open source or through fair use of copyrighted works
One Thousand and One Nights and One Night Page 2 a role-playing game campaign design ’zine Vol.: 1, Issue: 19, December 15, 2007
Bloody Benders (cont.)
Another Good Free ‘zine
killed a whole bunch of people and then disappeared. There is a lot of speculation on whether they were really a family or just four criminals who worked together to kill and rob.
Roger Carbol writes an excellent ‘zine based upon *gasp* REALITY, mixing news headlines (or small news bits) into the D20 (WOTC) OGL system. It’s called Knowledge (Curr ent Events) Events) (roger.carbol.com/rpg/K_CE/K_CE.htm roger.carbol.com/rpg/K_CE/K_CE.htm)) and he’s up to issue #14. It’s a great resource to add a bit of flavor to a modern game, even other if other systems are used. Go Roger!
Rick Geary does a great job with the subject matter. I love his art, it’s really got a good feel for that time period and the characters and even the everyday items around them are very detailed. He is a favorite artist of mine since I read Blanche Goes to New York , a Cthulhu–esque comic from 1992. The Bloody Benders would make a good encounter for any party. They could be used in nearly any setting, especially an Old West game (and would work quite well in a Deadlands Reloaded (Pinnacle) game), standard–bog fantasy (in the wild lands between two towns) and even in modern times (an old hill–billy family in the Ozark Mountains).
More Modern Odd (cont.) 2000 year old Sword of Goujian. In fact, one part said “After being in water for 2000 years, the Sw Sw ord of Goujian Goujian till has a sharp blade bla de and shows no signs of tar nish.” nish.” So, here’s the mix! First, Hitler’s spirit was trapped in his cigar humidor after his suicide by Himmler, a mage of the Aryan Brotherhood. He faked his death and escaped to Argentina but lost the humidor in transit. It found it’s way into a storage area in Paris where PK Dick’s android ended up. A freak electrical storm released Hitler’s spirit into the android and now he’s on the loose, searching for the magic sword. Hitler gets a bunch of zombies powered by magic from Saturn and steals a proto–type Jet Car vital to US (continued on Second Column)
Content © Wooden Leg Named Smith Productions 2007 Website: 1001nightsand1night.110mb.com
To the Future with Mutant Future! Goblinoid Games ( www.goblinoidgames.com ( www.goblinoidgames.com)) will be releasing Mutant Future, Future, a D20 (WOTC) retro–clone game in the same vein as the 1st editions of Metamorphosis of Metamorphosis Alpha (James Ward) and Gamma World (WOTC). The retro-clone games have had quite a following. These games are D20 (WOTC) but with a focus on game style from our youth (or at least t he youth of the hobby), like the Blue Box Basic D&D (WOTC). Several other companies are producing retro–clone games– Goblinoid also has Labyrinth Lord and Troll Lord has Castles and Crusades, Crusades , just to name a few. I’ve downloaded the free copy of Labyrinth of Labyrinth Lord (a hardback book is also available for sale) and it’s pretty good. I’m looking forward to Mutant Future as I am a great MA /GW fan GW fan and a fan of other post-apocalyptic games as well. I’ve even been in the Goblinoid Mutant Future forums talking about it and the designers have been very cool! If you like retro–clone games, be sure to go to Goblinoid Games.
Even More Modern Odd (cont.) National Security. Everybody and their kid brother are looking for this car. The real prize, however, and what everyone is really after is the script of “Find of “Find the Jetcar, Said the President–A Buckaroo Banzai Thriller” in the trunk! Why? Add some Ken Hite’s Suppressed Tr ansmission ansmission (Steve Jackson Games) and serve in a Savage Worlds! (Pinnacle) Bureau 13 (Tri–Tac) game.
published in association with the Corvis Babbage Cliological Society ’zine art is either open source or through fair use of copyrighted works
