Weird Wood: The Star Grove

Star Grove: An area filled with strange, alien vegetation, much of which is carnivorous. Star spawn tend the grove. They will give only the most cryptic of answers to any questions directed at them, but will not attack unless attacked. If sick or wounded characters enter the forest the spawn will stop what they are doing and immediately tend to them. If the character or its companions show any signs of hostility, they will disengage and wait for an opportune time to steal the injured party away, even those that have engaged in prior hostile action.  After securing the sick/wounded they will transport them to their strange subterranean lair and tend to them there. Patients will be released once they are healed. 

Weird Wood: the Robot Farm

 Robot Farm: Several thousand Hectares of cultivated land. A wide variety of robots tend the land. The robots come in all sorts. They have all been modified, as none of them were originally built for agriculture. The food generated from their enterprise is stored in a large warehouse. Every year the previous year’s harvest is destroyed. Battle Droids patrol the perimeter of the farm and will attack anyone attempting to enter. It is possible that human adventurers might gain entry and, perhaps, even access to the food stores. Humans, however are thin on the ground in the Weird Wood.  

Comics Deep Dive: Bill Willingham's Elementals

Recently, I bought a lot of Bill Willingham's Elementals on Ebay. 

Anyone who knows me at all, is aware that I spend a lot of time reading, thinking about- and making comics. 

Minor spoilers ahead:

I’ve tapped into the first 17 issues. 1-5 are pretty cool. I’m not crazy about the ending of the first storyline, but I might feel differently on a second read. 

Issue 6 launched a new direction as the Elementals become regular superheroes, which they kind of suck at. 

 7 is about the Elementals fame and thoroughly skippable.

 

9-12 are some spy stuff and an adventure dealing with some of the sorcerous fall out from the end of the first story line. 

13 is a one in done dealing with an ice daemon. 

14 is a downtime issue, normally I hate downtime issues, but this one is pretty neat, because it addresses the fact that they’re all actually undead, and can't really do downtime, all of which still seems like pretty cool and original to me thirty-five years on. 

15 is a one and done, kinda, with a fight between Vortex and a dude named the Annihilator, who was one of the supervillains from the first storyline. 

16-17 Comprise a vampire story. the vampire is an overweight nosferatu kinda guy, with some Incel issues. it's pretty straightforward and nothing to get excited about, but enjoyable for what it is.

Willingham is completely at the mercy of his inkers. The early and later issues look best. In between he’s got some amateurs on the job. 

There are a two lines of narration/dialogue that would cause a kerfuffle today. 

Bill’s hatred of anti-semites shines through in many places. It comes up a lot.

Overall it's a 6/10 

There’s also a Justice Machine/Annihilators miniseries in this pile. Justice Machine is an even deeper cut than the Elementals. I'll get to it eventually. 

I find supers in a limited world like this, Savage Dragon, BPRD, and pre 1970’s Marvel more enjoyable. I guess I’d include Kirby’s 70’s stuff too, because that shit is set in the big two universes in name only. 

Gaming connection: The Destroyers initially appears in two V&V adventures written and illustrated by Willingham. In typical fanboy fashion one of the letters in a later issue access Willingham of staling them from the module. Looking at the creators name is hard, I guess. 

Samson of Mars, a novel.

 I wrote a novel that takes place in my Mars setting. I will start revisions within the week and I hope to have it up on Amazon by the end of August. Some of you might find this interesting: I wrote the first draft in 19 days after reading that Bradbury did Fahrenheit 451 in 18. he did more words and I assume all his revisions within that time, but still 19 days is pretty good.  

Weird Wood: Sagoth Caves

 23

Sagoth Caves: A series of limestone hills riddled with caves. The caves show evidence of former habitation, but nobody lives there now- or at least not permanently. Strange things happen in the caves, ghosts are seen and fell beasts come up, without warning, from the lower tunnels. 

Comments have been turned on. 

BX Mars Deep City Ruins Zine, Early days.

 Here is a look at the table of contents and rough notes for the upcoming BX Mars Deep City Ruins Zine

BX Mars

Into the Ruins (BXM2)

Brief: An in-depth look at the deep city ruin environment, 2 new classes, three new factions a bunch of maps and art and stuff.

Intro

Classes (Scout, Druid)

Masteries

Factions 

Dry Well

Deep Xumos- three maps. 

Denizens of the Deep ruins

On presenting monsters

New wonders of the ancients

Appendix 1

Appendix 2

Optional rules for smaller groups. 

Design notes and possible conversions. 

6-8 page comic. 

The Deep City Ruins. 

The edges of Ruined Xumos are controlled by the Thark, but the deeper into the ruins one ventures, the wilder and more dangerous things become. 

There’s a water source somewhere below the city and, ancient machines, the final vestiges of a forgotten irrigation system of unthinkable proportion, bring it to the surface. As a result the city is choked with vegetation. Some of it is dangerous. Nearly all of it is edible if properly processed and some of the plant’s will do their best to eat you as well.

This vegetation, of course, provides a basis for the local food chain. Within the confines of Zerzura, the biodiversity of the deep city ruins is matched only by that of Shadow Canyon. Many of the plants and animals living in the city can be found nowhere else in the region or, possibly the entirety of mars. 

There are wonders of the past and many other valuable things to be found in and under the deep city. Every year, dozens of Martians, red and green, alike, set out from the settlement at the frontiers edge and venture into the ruins in hopes of finding such things. Most don’t come back. Few of those who do escape with more than their lives. Countless stories and rumors tell of treasure found and then lost again the prospectors were slain on their way out of the ruins.

One of the great treasures supposedly lost in the ruins is a working food machine. It is almost certain that each of the regions factions sends agents in search of it from time to time. Such a find would surely destroy the current balance of power and spark the Zezura’s first major armed conflict in time out of mind. 

However stories of lesser treasures have been more than enough to motivate a steady stream of prospectors for time out of mind. 

Who ventures into the ruins? Members of every class represented in the BX Mars book and the two new classes presented in the following section are suitable for Deep Ruin adventures. 

Classes

The Scout

Scouts are one of the rare classes available to both Thark and Red Martians. Scouts are individuals who have dedicated their lives to exploring the ruins of the city. Although individuals they are often business rivals, costs generally work in a loose association with one another. As stated above, few expeditions return, even fewer do so without scouts. It should not be assumed that a given scout will know the layout of a particular area. The frontier between the civilized city’s edge and its deeper sections is constantly shifting inward. 

 

The Druid

Rarely encountered outside the ruins, Druids are Thark! who through rigorous effort have attained a level of psionic influence over plants and animals.

New Masteries

Backtrack

Ruin Lore

Jimmy

Factions

The Explorers

A loose association of druids and scouts. 

The Grax: warriors and leaders of the great horde. They rarely act in concert and might defiantly makes right. 

The Nuphal: The traders maintain a permanent presence here and is always interested in the acquisition of ancient artifacts, regardless of means. 

The Unclean: Servants of the Mad Sun lurk here as they do everywhere. They actively attempt to disrupt trade and sew discord between the other groups. More than one scout and possible a druid or two as well are agents of the unclean. They lead prospectors into the ruins and either kill them or abandon them once they are lost. Unclean druids may have special relationships with some of the evil creatures who lair in the ruins. 

Spies: Virtually every power and faction in the region- and perhaps one or two from elsewhere as well, maintain spies in Dry Well. 

Dry well and Beyond

Map of Dry Well

Map of section: Extremely overgrown.

Map of section: Broken terraces, waterfall.

Map of  section: This one overwhelmed by Sand and partially underground as a result.  

Each map comes with a gazetteer. 

Urban Weather Table

Denizens of Deep City

Blood Monkeys

Vine snakes

Club moss

Tangler

Stone Spider

Cleaning cubes

There will certainly be more content then this, as well as too many maps. 

There will be two versions, one with full nudity, another with a lot of convenient shadows and opaque gusts wind. 

Weird Wood: The Sands of Time

22

Sands of Time: A beach on the shore of Mud Lake, comprised entirely of extremely tiny clock parts and overshadowed by a giant brass watch. Clockwork seagulls sail over the shore and mechanical crabs sidle and click across the gear dunes. The beach first makes itself known upon approach by the thunderous noise of the giant watch ticking.

MAP

Weird Wood Murder Peak, the Observatory and Old Canal.

19.

Murder Peak: A sharp-peaked basalt formation riddled with caves. The base of Murder Peak is surrounded by a ring of bones. The osseous remains of many species are present in the bone pile, although humans seem to be somewhat overrepresented. 

The Tribusaurus makes its lair in one of the peaks’s many caves. 

20.

The Observatory: A large and ramshackle house, sporting a tower with a highly conspicuous telescope upon its roof. The house is clearly inhabited and some nights a dark shape has been seen moving about on the tower roof, but, nevertheless, there is nothing to see in Weird Wood’s night sky. 

21.

Old Canal: An algae chocked and broken down canal. The walls and walkways of the locks are inscribed with strange pictograms of unknown origin. The waterway doesn’t smell too good. 

MAP

Weird Wood Mud Lake

18

MAP

Mud Lake: An expanse of stinking, hot, wet, burbling filth. The lake teems with huge eels and giant roaches. 

Weird Wood Weeks Two and Three Consolidated

Time is strange. Things age at different rates. Buildings and landmarks appear, disappear and reappear, seemingly at random. Time can flow differently from place to place or from person to person. 

There is nothing like civilization in Weird Wood. The tumultuous and dangerous nature of the place make it impossible to settle. The only exception is the Surrendered, a small group of squatters who hide amongst the half submerged towers of the Sunken City. 

Gazeteer:

MAP

The Ariel: A cave-riddled, flat-topped sandstone formation at the center of Crystal Meadow. The cliffs leading up to the cloud-veiled summit are sheer and treacherous. Crumbling stone, patches of loose sand, and carnivorous insects only add to the danger. From about half way up on, climbers can hear the static gum of the TV trees above. They are just one of the strange and terrible things atop the mesa. 

Badlands: A haunted wasteland. The expanse of scorching heat and bare rock is somehow far larger than it should be and takes many days to cross. Transparent beings, accompanied but the noise of static, flicker in out of sight. What are they? 

The Barrier: A dense and seemingly impassable forest. The Barrier surrounds the entirety of Weird Wood. It is resistant to cutting and will not burn. With each step deeper into the forest the forest grows more tangled, dense and actively hostile. 

Bone Pond: A crystal clear pond. No visible signs of life. Bones completely cover the bottom. 

Castle Nimbus: Dead Wizard’s stronghold in exile. A floating castle perched atop a cloud. A giant burning and unblinking eye, floats beside it. Hidden by the cloud,  Castle Nimbus and the Eye are invisible from the surface.

Crystal Meadow: A wide field covered by glowing pink nodules of budding crystal. Wind passing through the crystal produces strange and sometimes dangerous music. 

The Dreaming: Mushroom forest and lair of the Worm. 

Dragon Marsh: Monster infested wetland. Giant insects and swamp sharks aren’t the worst things in the marsh. The mysterious, looming Outpost 16 resides in the deepwater near the Barrier. 

Forever Falls: Bottomless waterfall. Some of the lost believe that there is a bottom and a doorway back to the real world hidden there. All you have to do  to reach it is jump over the edge.  Even aside from the obvious, there are many problems with this supposition. Not the least of which is that nobody agrees what the real world is. 

Giant’s Grave: Vast battlefield littered with giant bones and rusted weapons at a scale to match. Although the fighting ended long ago, many claim to hear the noise of battle when they draw near.  

The Lost Saucer: A mysterious spacecraft. Lights blink and flash. Machines hum and whine. Despite these indications of activity, nobody has ever seen the occupants of the saucer. In fact, nobody even knows whether or not the saucer is occupied.

Weird Wood The Lost Saucer

 17.

The Lost Saucer: A mysterious spacecraft. Lights blink and flash. Machines hum and whine. Despite these indications of activity, nobody has ever seen the occupants of the saucer. In fact, nobody even knows whether or not the saucer is occupied.

Weird Wood Giant's Grave

16.

Giant’s Grave: Vast battlefield littered with giant bones and rusted weapons at a scale to match. Although the fighting ended long ago, many claim to hear the noise of battle when they draw near.  

Weird Wood Forever Falls

15. 

Forever Falls: Bottomless waterfall. Some of the Lost believe that there is a bottom and a doorway back to the real world hidden there. All you have to do  to reach it is jump over the edge.  Even aside from the obvious, there are many problems with this supposition. Not the least of which is that nobody agrees what the real world is. 

MAP

Weird Wood Dragon Marsh

14.

Dragon Marsh: Monster infested wetland. Giant insects and swamp sharks aren’t the worst things in the marsh. The mysterious, looming Outpost 16 resides in the deepwater near the Barrier. 

MAP

Weird Wood The Crystal Meadow

13.

Crystal Meadow: A wide field covered by glowing pink nodules of budding crystal. Wind passing through the crystal produces strange and sometimes dangerous music. 

MAP

Weird Wood: Castle Nimbus

 12.

Castle Nimbus: Dead Wizard’s stronghold in exile. A floating castle perched atop a cloud. A giant eye burning and unblinking, floats beside it. Hidden by the cloud,  Castle Nimbus and the Eye are invisible from the surface.

MAP

Weird Wood Badlands, Barrier and Bone Pond

MAP

9.

Badlands: A haunted wasteland. The expanse of scorching heat and bare rock is somehow far larger than it should be and takes many days to cross. Transparent beings, accompanied but the noise of static, flicker in out of sight. What are they? 

10.

The Barrier: A dense and seemingly impassable forest. The Barrier surrounds the entirety of Weird Wood. It is resistant to cutting and will not burn. With each step deeper into the forest the forest grows more tangled, dense and actively hostile. 

11.

Bone Pond: A crystal clear pond. No visible signs of life. Bones completely cover the bottom. 

Weird Wood: The Ariel

 8.

The Ariel: A cave-riddled, flat-topped sandstone formation at the center of Crystal Meadow. The cliffs leading up to the cloud-veiled summit are sheer and treacherous. Crumbling stone, patches of loose sand, and carnivorous insects only add to the danger. From about half way up on, climbers can hear the static gum of the TV trees above. They are just one of the strange and terrible things that await atop the mesa. 

Map

Weird Wood Civilization

 7.

There is nothing like civilization in Weird Wood. The tumultuous and dangerous nature of the place make it impossible to settle. The only exception is the Surrendered, a small group of squatters who hide amongst the half submerged towers of the Sunken City. 

Weird Wood Time

 6.

Time is strange. Things age at different rates. Buildings and landmarks appear, disappear and reappear, seemingly at random. Time can flow differently from place to place or from person to person. 

Weird Wood Week One Consolidated

 

Weird Wood Week One Consolidated 

Map

The Weird Wood resides at place isolated from the world- or perhaps, outside of normal time and space altogether. It is an impossible place with a strange secret at its very foundations.

Getting to Weird Wood is always the result of getting lost. It doesn’t matter if it’s lost in the woods, in space, at sea, or during the confusion of a natural disaster.

There’s no escape. Nobody leaves Weird Wood. Many trails lead in, but none lead out. The Barrier, an impossibly thick and seemingly endless tangle of trees and undergrowth, surrounds the entire area. Flight is impossible; perpetual storms rage in the sky. You're there to stay. 

The environment of Weird Wood is actively malicious. Weather is extremely unpredictable and dangerous. Any sort of savage beast, from any world or time, might wander out from behind the next tree. The tree itself might attack you.  Further, powerful beings vie amongst themselves for control of the wood and don’t care who gets caught in the crossfire. 

Physics operate differently. Magic, science and superpowers all function within the confines of Weird Wood. Artifacts of every possible configuration, power source and function can be found scattered across the landscape. 

Weird Wood Physics

5.

Physics operate differently. Magic, science and superpowers all function within the confines of Weird Wood. Artifacts of every possible configuration, power source and function can be found scattered across the landscape. 

The Innate Hostility of Weird Wood

4.

The environment of Weird Wood is actively malicious. Weather is extremely unpredictable and dangerous. Any sort of savage beast, from any world or time, might wander out from behind the next tree. The tree itself might attack you.  Further, powerful beings vie amongst themselves for control of the wood and don’t care who gets caught in the crossfire. 

Leaving Weird Wood

3.

There’s no escape. Nobody leaves Weird Wood. Many trails lead in, but none lead out. The Barrier, an impossibly thick and seemingly endless tangle of trees and undergrowth, surrounds the entire area. Flight is impossible; perpetual storms rage in the sky. You're there to stay. 

Getting to Weird Wood

2. 

Getting to Weird Wood is always the result of getting lost. It doesn’t matter if it’s lost in the woods, in space, at sea, or during the confusion of a natural disaster.

Weird Wood Map

The Weird Wood

1. Behold the Weird Wood. 

The weird wood resides at place isolated from the world- or perhaps, outside of normal time and space altogether. It is an impossible place with a strange secret at its very foundations.