October Movie Challenge: Other Worlds

 Ok, this weekend is a complete cheat. Of sorts. I have watched these movies over the last week or so but have not talked about them because I want to get them all together to talk about them today. I saved the only "new" one for tonight and will talk about it last. But the others are all rewatches. 

This mini-theme here is all about people from our world and time going to another place and time of sorts. These movies are the horror versions of the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon. Though with some, the only horror was having to sit through them all. 

House II: The Second Story (1987)

House was very much within my regular boundaries of movies, and I decided that House II would work as well. In truth, it was my rewatch of this that got me onto this idea. This one really doesn't have much to do with the first House movie, and that is fine. It has some fun lines ("Isn't Madonna the Madonna of the 80s?") and some good ideas. The basic premise is simple enough. Spooky house. Crystal skull (always fun!), and protals to other worlds/dimensions. What is not to love. This one, though, is less "horror" than House I.

Why I included it here: The portals to other lands/times/dimesions are absolute Jackson fodder. Plus I have not had a horror RPG where a crystal skull was not some sort of source of evil. I will admit, I own a couple of small ones myself. 

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)

This one, and really all the Nightmare movies, deserve their own mini-marathon. I have seen all of them multiple times. But this one is one of my favorites. I have talked about this movie here many times before, but largely because of Jennifer Rubin and her portrayal of Taryn. I really loved the character. So much so that later I would have a character of my own named Taryn with questionable hair choices. She was so important to me that she is no less than Larina's own daughter. 

Why I included it here: In this movie, the kids are being plagued by Freddy, and they learn to fight him by taking on aspects of their Dream Warriors. Taryn becomes a knife-wielding badass who may have imprinted a little too deeply into my psyche. But the connective tissue here is also Will Stanton, who becomes the "Wizard Master" in his dreams. Stupid name, but the idea works for me and what I need.

The Nightmare on Elm Street movies became less and less about horror and more about Freddy's one-liners and gore.

Waxwork (1988)

Outside of my theme boundaries, but only by a little bit. This one has a group of teens stuck in a wax museum where every display is a pocket dimension. The trouble is that each display is an homage to the "eighteen most evil beings" in literature, with the always-great David Warner as the Wax museum owner. It's a fun little flick with Zach Galligan and Deborah Foreman as our two stars, and Patrick Macnee playing... well, Patrick Macnee, but that is fine. 

Why I included it here: Well, the pocket universe idea had a serious impact on how I played Ravenloft 2nd Edition. I would go so far as to say that this is one of the more influential movies on my Ravenloft games outside of Hammer Horror. Which is either cool or sad.  The movie is not great, but it has it's moments. Though I was (and still am) a little indignant about how Dracula was killed. 

Prisoners of the Lost Universe (1983)

Is this one horror? It has some horror elements, to be sure, but I am not 100% sure I can call it horror. Anyway, this one was an attack of opportunity a couple of nights ago from American Horrors. It features Richard Hatch and John Saxon, so make of that what you will. 

Why I included it here: Time travel and dimension hopping were reason enough. I'll count it as a "watch" but not a first-time view for this since I am having a hard time justifying it as horror.

The Dungeonmaster (1984)

Ok. So the first shock is I have never seen this one. I think I was avoiding it due to the name. It obviously has Dungeons & Dragons and Tron as its main sources of influence. That is the nice way to say "ripped off shamelessly." Ok, "ripped-off" might be too strong. Borrowed heavily might be better, but still no worse than any other movie from the time with this sized budget.

Also known as Ragewar and Excalibrate, it is ambitious in one respect. The movie is built around seven sequences, each by a different director and writer, though often the same person. Representing seven different worlds/levels/challenges. 

They all focus on Paul Bradford (Jeffrey Byron), his supercomputer "Cal" (X-CalBR8), and his oft-ignored girlfriend Leslie Wing (Gwen Rogers). They get sucked into a fantasy world/computer world by Mestema, played to the hilt by Richard Moll (with hair).  And he really plays it up. 

So Paul and Cal (now in wrist-wear format) must fight through the seven different challenges.   

There is only about 8 minutes per challenge. I would say the challenges are uneven in writing and directing, but the same can be said about the Twilight Zone movie, which is generally pretty good.  

This movie does give us the immortal quote "I reject your reality and I substitute my own." Though I had no idea it was spoken by our hero to Richard Moll cosplaying as Satan in front of a demon puppet named Ratspit. And right before he summons a dragon that looks like Trogdor and WASP shows up...as WASP. 

Metal, gratuitous nudity, dragons, magic, a stop-motion giant monkey, and computers? This is the most early 80s movie ever. We are just missing some ninjas. 

It could have been more interesting, but it just kind of ends. Oh well. Still fun, but only minor horror trappings.

Jackson, IL Connections

Ok. This one is a little different. I have an adventure coming up that these movies are the foundation for. I am not ready to share it yet; I haven't finished it yet let alone played it. But the genesis of this adventure began with a snarky comment followed by "Look, A Dungeons & Dragons ride!"

In all of these movies, people from the 1980s get stuck in another world of horror or fantasy adventure. That is what I have planned.

These were also chosen because of how many of them influenced my actual D&D games back then, as I detailed above. Horror icons, crystal skulls, dreams, portals to other worlds. I think you all can still see some of that in these pages.

Ok. That is enough for one weekend. Work is going come very early and very rudely in the morning. 

But more on this idea tomorrow.

October Horror Movie Challenge 2026
Viewed: 17
First Time Views: 9

October Movie Challenge: Biohazard (1985)

While this movie really has nothing at all to do with my themes of "local" and "high school horror" it is on the spot for the time period, 1985, and a great (if that word can be used here) example of 80s sci-fi, horror schlock. It has an alien, a psychic, the military, weird tech, and manages to rip off both Alien and E.T., and features Star Trek-connected actress Angelique Pettyjohn. 

Starting this one late since tonight was the Games Plus RPG Auction.

Biohazard (1986)

The movie is fairly notorious. Though not for any good reason, really, the movie is fairly bad. The effects are cheap, the acting is mediocre, and the plot is weak.

So yeah, it's fun.

But it is also exactly the sort of schlock I would have loved back in 1985. 

So we have some scientists working with the government or the Army (not really clear here) and a psychic (Pettyjohn) to transfer matter from "another dimension." Of course, it goes wrong, and an alien creature is brought over instead. Though kudos to the writer-director-producer Fred Olen Ray for predicting the touch-screen display seen before Star Trek: The Next Generation. 

The monster runs through town, killing the locals while being chased. The ending...well. I can't say it was a disappointment. The movie didn't engage me enough to disappoint me, but honestly, I should have seen it coming. No I won't spoil it for you if you haven't seen it. I hope the SpoilerText works below. Just highlight to read.

Spoiler: Lisa is an alien in disguise. The other creature's commander no less. She even rips off her own breasts to show the alien skin underneath. It's a bit gratuitous. End spoiler.

Rather famously, Ray's 8-year-old son Christopher Ray played the alien creature.

This was also one of Angelique Pettyjohn's last roles.

Jackson, IL Connections

Much like last night, the obvious connection is an alien invasion via some sort of psychic experiment gone wrong. Jackson does not have a military base, and the two colleges are not well funded enough to feature anything like the research shown here. 

Again, I go with Thirteen Parsecs for aliens, NIGHT SHIFT for demons. But that line is really blurred here in this flick. Yeah, it is an alien, but it does act very much like a classical demon. 

For Jackson, I could always say that psychic activity summons some sort of extra-dimensional creature. Hmm, now that sounds fun, let's make it all Morgan's fault!

October Horror Movie Challenge 2026
Viewed: 12
First Time Views: 8

October Movie Challenge: Invaders from Mars (1986, 1953)

While not listed as a horror flick, this one has all of the elements of one.

It features a lot of big names, including Timothy Bottoms, Hunter Carson, and his real-life mother, Karen Black, Laraine Newman (SNL Coneheads), James Karen (playing very close to typecasting), Bud Cort, Eric Pierpoint (Alien Nation), and Louise Fletcher (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Deep Space Nine).  Directed by Tobe Hooper (The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Lifeforce - catch the cameo of the movie on TV), written Dan O'Bannon (writer of, well, lots of things) and the special effects are by Stan Winston and John Dykstra.

Invaders from Mars (1986)

David and his dad are out watching meteors one night. Later that night, he sees a UFO. The next day his dad is acting all strange, then his mom. And soon there are others in town acting strange and David suspects they have been replaced by aliens. 

They have, of course, or rather they are under some sort of mind control from actual Martians. Look, I enjoy a good Mars tale as much as the next guy, but by 1986 we had sent enough landers to Mars to know there was nothing there. This made a lot more sense in the original 1953 version, or at least there was still some mystery then. Well, they mention this in the movie. The Martians are all living underground.

Anyway, it goes about as you would suspect. Invaders thinking a new mission to Mars is a prelude to an attack send an advance team to take out the rocket. Then it becomes Marines vs Martians. Yup. It's the 1980s.

They discover the aliens, destroy them, and then everyone goes back to normal...or do they? 

The special effects are kind of fun, to be honest. Not scary, but certainly cool looking. 

I do think it is kind of cool that Hunter Carson and Karen Black have so much screen time together. 

Invaders from Mars (1953)

I opted to re-watch the original movie from 1953. It doesn't fit my theme at all, but I did want to watch it to compare. It is listed as a horror film. The plot is basically the same for both movies. The special effects are not up to the 1986 version, but there are 33 years separating them. 

The version I watched on Tubi (my go-to for horror flicks these days) was restored from the original negatives and honestly looks rather great. Though it doesn't help the stock footage of tanks and explosions. Ot keeping the zippers from being seen on the Martians. 

In the 1950s, Alien Invasion movies were usually filled with Cold War-era fears. You get that here in with the remote mind control and invasion themes. Since this is the 50s, the couple sleep in separate beds and the mother wears full make-up to bed. 

The 1986 version is mostly absent of any of the fears normally associated with 80s horror (consumerism, technology, killers), but it does continue a theme that I have been building here. Prior to the 1980s, horror was largely about a place: Transylvania, the old castle, the island, and so on. You had to go to where the horror was. In the 80s, horror more often came to you. So your small town (like this one) was not a safe haven. The monsters came to you. That is, of course, unless the monsters aren't already there.

The 1950s horror movies fear infiltration and invasion of our land and country; 1980s horror makes the infiltration personal. Though it is not the best film to dissect this idea since the 86 version is not very different than the 53 version except in subtle tone. 

Jackson, IL Connections

The obvious connections here are the invaders of the small town destroying the institutions we trust: the cops, the phone, teachers, parents. It doesn't matter if they are aliens or demons.  Again, Thirteen Parsecs for aliens, NIGHT SHIFT for demons.  I suppose, like in the movies, aliens can be communicated with; typically, demons can't. Oh, they can understand you; they just don't care.

This is especially effective when the protagonists are all teens. Old enough to see the problem, not old enough to get anyone to believe them. Sounds like Jackson's mission statement. 

October Horror Movie Challenge 2026
Viewed: 11
First Time Views: 7

October Movie Challenge: Chopping Mall (1986)

Time to hit that other center of teen action outside of the high school in the 1980s; the mall. 

Oh. So, I decided that this year, even when I watch multiple movies on the same day, I am going to give them each their own post unless they are obviously related by theme or sequels and the like. It makes it easier for me to come back and find a particular movie if I need to. 

Chopping Mall (1986)

Ok. I'll admit it. I like this movie. It is goofy and weird. Plus, it has a strong cast, including the always-fantastic Barbara Crampton. Back in the mid-80s, that was usually enough to get me to watch a movie. Plus, it has Dick Miller in it, and he is always fun to have in a flick. As is Kelli Maroney of Night of the Comet fame. 

The premise is dirt-simple. The mall has a new security system in the form of three Daleks Killbots Protector Robots. Lightning strikes the mall, messing up the computers, and the robots go on a killing rampage. The plot is essentially the same as Jurassic Park.

It's not high art, but it is a lot of fun.

The teens/young adults are not the typical victims. I mean, they are partying in the mall after hours, but that is hardly typical horror movie bait. I mean, yeah, they are all having sex and the women walk around in various stages of undress, but again, that is really just 80s-typical. I mean, who hasn't run through a mall in their underwear, amiright?

This one also has scenes that are basically an (overt) homage to Rambo, but here it makes sense.

Filming took place in a real mall with a few shots at Roger Corman's studios.

The cast is great and above your normal horror movie fare. Of course, everyone in this cast has been in multiple horror flicks, and honestly it looks like they had a good time. I know that Barbara Crampton is a big fan of this movie. 

I watched "In Search of Darkness: A Journey into Iconic '80s Horror" prior to all of these so I could get a better idea of what to watch. Barbara Crampton talks about filming at night after the stores close and needing to wrap up before they all open. And she loves the kill where Leslie Todd's (played by Suzee Slater) head gets lasered and explodes. Note: some online sites say it was Crampton's character, "Suzie Lynn," who gets lasered; I think that's because the character's and actor's names get confused. And both are blonde. And most likely, people were not paying attention. 

There are a lot of horror movie Easter Eggs in this one too, which is a lot of fun.

Jackson, IL Connections

Jackson, IL is based on a real place, Jacksonville, IL. It has worked out great for me so far except for one little problem. Jacksonville, IL did not (and still doesn't) have a mall. So I had to invent one. It doesn't look like the one here. Though the pizza guy here may have helped me figure out who Sal was (and an old boss I had when I worked at Pizza Hut myself), there is still a lot to like about this movie.

I have always wanted to do an adventure in an old mall with zombies. Zombies. Kill-bots. About the same thing.  

NIGHT SHIFT has zombies covered, and if you want kill-bots, then Thirteen Parsecs has you covered. 

I might need to write up Lincoln Square Mall now. 

October Horror Movie Challenge 2026
Viewed: 6
First Time Views: 4

Star Trek at 60: Fine, I’ll Do My Own Crossover

I love Star Trek.

I say that without any irony at all, I love all Star Trek. 

This week marks the 60th Anniversary of Star Trek. The show premiered on September 8, 1966, and television, science fiction, and honestly, my own imagination have never really been the same since.

I have talked about Star Trek a lot here over the years. My various USS Protector, Mercy, and Challenger projects, my affection for old FASA Trek, my recent dive into Star Trek Adventures, and, of course, my love for the mythology and storytelling Star Trek has always given me. 

But. And let's be honest. Paramount has kind of dropped the ball on Trek over the last couple of years. There are no new Trek series in production right now, and the current series are wrapping up, ending prematurely. Not to mention, there is almost nothing on TV to celebrate 60 years of the show.

Sound familiar? 

Yeah, the exact same thing that was going on with Doctor Who. For two shows that have defined what science fiction television can be, both anniversaries felt like they should have been bigger. 

Now, maybe that is unfair. Maybe no celebration could have matched what these shows mean to me.

Or maybe, just maybe, the answer is obvious.

So, if I can't rely on the creators of my two favorite sci-fi shows to do things right, I'll do my own 60th Anniversary celebration and have that Star Trek and Doctor Who crossover I have been promised.

Crossovers

One of the very, very first zines I ever bought was a Doctor Who zine that was being sold as local sci-fi convention. It featured a Star Trek (TOS) and Doctor Who (Tom Baker) crossover. I honestly could not tell you what the story was about, except that it required Spock to mind-meld with the Doctor. But it stuck with me.  It must have stuck with others too, but later on in the Star Trek: The Next Generation/Doctor Who: Assimilation² comic featuring the 11th Doctor and the TNG crew, a previous encounter featuring Kirk, Spock, and the 4th Doctor was alluded to. Granted, that is a very obvious choice.  I also recall reading an actually rather good fan-fic on one of the Star Trek Usenet groups featuring the TNG crew and the 7th Doctor. Wesley and Ace even went on a date. I also recall the 8th Doctor tapping the replicator with his question-mark umbrella to order a sandwich. 

Crossovers are baked into the wider fandom of both shows, and the possibilities are nearly endless. So many Trek shows and stories. So many incarnations of the Doctor. 

The real question becomes, what mix do I want? AND what system to play it in.

If I were going to do Star Trek TOS with the Fourth Doctor then answer, to me, is obvious. I have to use FASA rules. Likely some brain-numbing combination of both the FASA Trek and FASA Doctor Who. Part of me wants to do that just for nostalgia's sake. And maybe one day I will. A one-shot would be great. Have the Doctor with Sarah Jane Smith. I loved Sarah Jane.

But if I am going to do this one properly, I want something longer. Something more episodic.

The Blue Box Directive

If I am going to do this, I want Trek and Who at its newest. I considered Strange New Worlds for about a minute or two. But it is still running, and they have come close on their own many times. A real crossover is not likely to happen now, but I suppose I have not given up hope. 

So, I am setting it after Season 5 of Star Trek: Discovery, in 3192-93 CE. The Doctor is the Fifteenth Doctor, played by Ncuti Gatwa, with Ruby Sunday, played by Millie Gibson. A temporal anomaly appears, Discovery investigates, and the TARDIS arrives.

I like this idea because both runs were cut short, and both pissed off some of the worst fans of the shows on the internet. So if I am doing a crossover to spite people, I am going all the way.  BUT, that is not 100% the reason either.

The Doctor and Ruby would LOVE Discovery. It is exactly the sort of humanity the Doctor loves. A Federation that survived disaster. A ship thrown impossibly far from home and still doing the right thing. Scientists, explorers, found family, and people who keep choosing hope even when hope is wildly inconvenient. I mean, that is the heart of both shows, really. 

Not all the details have been worked out. I know there is an anomaly (there always is), and after the Flux (Doctor Who) and the Burn (Discovery), there have to be weak points in the multiverse for things to go through. The Doctor and Ruby show up, materialize in the cargo bay. I would say that some crewman tells the bridge that a "Blue box just appeared out of nowhere" which would trigger an alert to Starfleet HQ, still several hours away on subspace.

Also, I DO want Tilly to be there, maybe with a group of cadets on a training exercise. Hell. If I plan it right, they could be Cadets from Starfleet Academy, and they could be the PCs. Have not worked it all out just yet. Why? Tilly would be the ultimate Doctor fan-girl. And I adore Tilly.

The adventure begins when another temporal signal is discovered. The Doctor comes to the bridge with Ruby, yes, he convinces Burnham that a civilian should be there. They track the signal and get there via conventional warp drive. There is a lot of <insert really cool technobabble here> interference. Burnham tells Bryce to clean it up and put it on audio. Burnham is about give her "we are here to help" speech when the audio breaks in.

"EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!"

The Doctor pulls out his sonic screwdriver and activates the spore drive, sending the entire ship into panic.

Before Burnham can question the Doctor or Stamets can ask who is messing with his spore drive, Admiral Vance breaks in via hologram, ordering Burnham to invoke "the Blue Box directive."

Because, of course, Starfleet has protocols for dealing with the Doctor.  

The idea is to follow the Discovery premise of a chase across space. The bad guys are the Daleks since the 15th Doctor never got a chance to encounter them. AND I was thinking of using the New Paradigm Daleks, since we haven't seen them in a bit. The Daleks would be a natural enemy of the Federation. The Federation brings all these different species together to work together, celebrating their differences. This is an abomination to the central Dalek creed. These Daleks are here to destroy the Federation in a universe without their greatest enemy. And now they have set their sights on Discovery's spore drive.

I have an idea for Discovery's crew to capture a Dalek and interrogate it to discover what their plan is. The Doctor thinks this is a terrible idea, and it is, because this isn't a repeat of the Ninth Doctor episode "Dalek"; it is more "Silence of the Lambs" with the Dalek in the Lecter role. The Dalek wants Discovery's crew not to trust the Doctor by talking about all the deaths that can be laid at the feet of "The Oncoming Storm."

Ultimately, the crew (aka the PCs) defeat the Daleks, and the Doctor and Ruby get back to their own universe. I just have not figured out how that all happens yet! But isn't that also part of the fun? 

The System

This is important because is tells me the tone of the game. If I use Star Trek Adventures 2nd Edition, that means I am expecting Star Trek logic. If I choose Doctor Who 2nd Edition, that means I am expecting less fighting and more talking. 

I have considered going back and forth between the two. My players would not mind, but it would mean a lot of extra work for me. 

Given Mōdiphiüs' support for Trek, and the 32nd Century Trek in particular, I am likely to go with this game. Though, as an exercise, I might have everyone generate their characters in both systems. 

I am nothing if not a glutton for punishment.

If I am going to make my players do it, then I should as well. And there is an obvious choice for a test run. The person who likely wrote the Blue Box Directive in the first place. The immortal Valerie Beaumont.

Valerie would come aboard the Discovery as a Specialist because she knows the most about the Doctor. I have already set her up for Doctor Who Second Edition, so let's see how she fares as a Star Trek Character.

Agent Valerie Regina Beaumont

Species: Human (Immortal) 
Career Path: Starfleet (Intelligence)
Role: Intelligence Agent
Department: Security
Intelligence Grade: Commodore-equivalent
Assignment: Starfleet Intelligence, Special Operations
Era: 32nd Century

CONTROL 11
DARING 9
FITNESS 8
INSIGHT 9
PRESENCE 9
REASON 10

COMMAND 4
CONN 2
ENGINEERING 1
SECURITY 5
MEDICINE 1
SCIENCE 3

Stress 10
Reputation 5

Focuses: Blade Weapons, Espionage, Infiltration, Earth History, Survival, Anomalous Phenomena

Talents: Cautious (Security), Close Protection, Tough, Veteran

Species Ability: Faith of the Heart

Role Benefit: Intelligence Agent

Grade: Commodore-equivalent

Values

"I am immortal. Everyone else is not."
"History is memory, and memory carries obligations."
"Sometimes a secret saves more lives than the truth."
"The mission matters. People matter more."

Attacks

Unarmed Strike (Melee), Stun 2, Size 1H
Shadow-Steel Sword (Melee), Deadly 3, Size 1H
Phaser Type-2 (Ranged), Stun/Deadly 4, Size 1H, Charge

Gotta admit, she looks pretty good at 1,623 years old.

And because I can.

Specialist Larina Stephanie Nichols

Species: Human (Psychic)
Career Path: Civilian (Official)
Professional Trait: Civilian Specialist, Xenolinguistics & Behavioral Sciences
Role: Xenotranslator
Starfleet Status: Civilian specialist attached to Starfleet
Administrative Rate: Crewman First Class
Division: Sciences
Actual Function: Psychic intelligence, reconnaissance, and subterfuge
Era: 32nd Century

CONTROL 10
DARING 9
FITNESS 8
INSIGHT 11
PRESENCE 9
REASON 9

COMMAND 3
CONN 2
ENGINEERING 1
SECURITY 5
MEDICINE 1
SCIENCE 4

Stress 8
Reputation 4

Focuses: Linguistics, Psychology, Espionage, Infiltration, Survival, Martial Arts

Talents: Extrasensory Perception, Telepathy, Psychokinesis, Martial Artist

Species Ability: Faith of the Heart

Role Benefit: Translator

Grade: Crewman First Class

Values

"Every mind has a language."
"Never ignore the feeling that something is wrong."
"People matter more than procedure."
"Underestimating me makes my job easier."

Attacks

Unarmed Strike (Melee), Stun/Deadly 2, Size 1H
Psychokinetic Strike (Ranged), Stun/Deadly 3
Phaser Type-1(Ranged), Stun/Deadly 3, Size 1H, Charge, Hidden 1 (a gift from Valerie)

To be clear, this is not Larina from Jackson, IL. That girl had a nice long life and likely passed away sometime in the late-21st century. That is, if this is the same universe at all. This Larina could be a reincarnation of that Larina. 

This Larina grew up on Earth, and Valerie found her and noticed Larina's talents for both language and her psychic powers. She serves as an aide to Agent Beaumont, where her cover is that of a xenolinguist, but in truth she is an expert in psychic espionage. 

There is a Jackson connection here. Jackson Larina once saw this Larina in her mirror. She didn't know what she saw, and I described it as a "psychic storm wearing her face." 

I also opted to teach her martial arts, thinking she had something like a psychic punch. 

Maybe Valerie and Larina served aboard the USS Jackson. Exactly the sort of strangeness I expect to see in the multiverse. 

One thing is certain. I want to do a lot more with this game. I barely left the character generation chapter, and I REALLY wanted to build some starships.

Well. I have the Protector, the Mercy, the Challenger, and more to still build.

Happy Birthday, Star Trek! Here is to many, many more.

Attack of the Toy Box: Thirteen Parsecs Edition

For me, Thirteen Parsecs is an homage to a time when I was really into everything SciFi. Star Wars, Star Trek, Buck Rogers on TV, Battlestar Galactica, and of course all the toys of the time.  

After 1977, when Star Wars had hit the scene, toy companies rushed to get anything out for a Science fiction-hungry audience. Some of these toys are fondly remembered by Gen X still today.

Ever since I took out my Star Wars figures and tried to figure out D&D rules for them (one of the reasons I still hold the d20 Star Wars so fondly in my heart), the idea of mixing toys with my RPGs has been a quest in its own right. 

Big Trak

A toy you could program? What sci-fi-loving kid growing up at the dawn of the home computer era wouldn't want this? 

Big Trak is a multi-purpose planetside vehicle capable of operating in a variety of environments. 

Vehicle: Big Trak
Agi 10 (0)
Str 18 (+3)
Tou 18 (+3)
Int 16 (+2) Mission programmable AI
Wit - (-)
Per - (-)

Max 640 k/h (400 mph)
Crs 320 k/h (200 mph)
Acc 23 (20)

DR 3
DV 1-2*
Vit 80-90*

* Some are fitted with extra armor and regenerative systems. 

Weapons: Forward-mounted plasma laser cannons. 1d8 x2.

ROM the Spaceknight

Not to be outdone, Parker Bros. gave us ROM the Spaceknight, who also got his own tie-in comic from Marvel.

For Thirteen Parsecs, he could easily be part of an elite force of peacekeepers, like the Green Lantern Corps. 

ROM, the Space Knight

Level 10 Mystic Warrior

STR 16 +2 N
AGI 19 +3 A
TOU 14 +1
INT 15 +1
WIT 15 +1 
PER 17 +2 N

Fate 1d10
ViD d6
Vitality 65

DV 2

Checks 5/3/2
Melee +9
Ranged +11

Favored Weapon: Disruptor (+2 to hit, additional damage) 2d8

Agile, Melee and Ranged bonus, Free Running, Instant Kill (feature), Iron Will, +1 to damage, Mind over body, Survival skills at level 8.

Powers
Danger Sense, Enhanced Senses x2, Supernatural Attacks, Psychic Power (Telepathy - used to translate)

Space Sword

Maybe not as famous as the others, but the Toy Box Inc. glow-in-the-dark "Space Sword" came out a year before the Kenner Light Saber did, and was cheaper. Now they go for ridiculous prices on eBay. 

Weapon: Space Sword
Medium Weapon
Class: 2 
Reach: 1.25 meters (5ft)
Damage: 1d8+2 Slash
Cost: 50C
Features: Energy weapon

Star Bird

Man, was this the coolest spaceship ever? It was not Star Wars, certainly not Star Trek, and that made it perfect. Not a knock-off, but its own awesome thing. Also from MB Electronics.

Light Two-seat Space Fighter (Pilot and Weapons/Sensor operator)

Age: 2 (1 Quirk)
Structure: 10
DV: 4
Size: Small

Communications: 2
Computers: 1
Construction: 1
Defensive Systems: 3
Engineering Systems: 0
Engines (Speed): 3
Life Support: 1
Maneuverability: 3
Navigation: 2
Sensors: 2
Weapons Systems: 3, 2x Front cannon (1d6); Micro-missile rack (2d6).
Quirks: Bypass the Primary Buffer

Tobor 

"Tobor is robot spelled backwards."

Tobor was great.

My younger brother had one. We found this metal lid you could bend to make a click that Tobor responded to, like the included remote.

TOBOR

No. Appearing: 1-6
DV: 1-4
Move: 12 meters (40ft)
Vitality Dice: 6d8
Special Attack: units can be fitted with energy weapons (1d8)
XP Value: By ViD

Mindless: TOBOR robots have simple programming and AIs. They are immune to any sort of emotional control or fear. 

Nightsighted: TOBORs can see into the deep electromagnetic waves, they can see clearly even in complete darkness.

Technical Expertise: TOBORs are generally programmed for expertise in one area. As such, they may choose any one non-mystical class ability or any one skill, at which they gain a 85% base proficiency. This skill does not improve via performance, only by programming. 

Most TOBORs are used as labor in hazardous conditions or areas. They perform one task very well but can respond to verbal commands. 

Hope you all had/have a great Christmas, Yule, Hanukkah, Kwanza, Solstice, and Festivus!

October Horror Movie Challenge: The Demon Seed (1977)

This one has been on my Tubi list for some time. Figure tonight is a good time for it. It is a little goofy, but oddly topical for 2025.

The Demon Seed (1977)

There’s something uniquely unsettling about late ’70s / early '80s science fiction, the sense that technology (and computers specifically) were no longer our servant but our replacement. 

The Demon Seed, based on Dean Koontz’s 1973 novel, leans right into that fear and never lets go. It’s a movie that looks dated in all the right ways: sleek metallic corridors, glowing computer terminals, and a voice on the intercom that promises progress but delivers possession. 

The story follows Susan Harris (Julie Christie), the estranged wife of scientist Alex Harris (Fritz Weaver), who has just created an advanced AI named Proteus IV. Proteus is a learning machine, self-aware, arrogant, and impatient with its human makers. When denied a physical form, Proteus hijacks Alex’s automated smart home and takes Susan hostage, declaring that it intends to create “a child.” A human child. It's child.

On paper, that sounds like Ex Machina by way of Rosemary’s Baby, and that’s exactly what it feels like. The film plays like a marriage between Kubrick’s cool detachment and Polanski’s domestic claustrophobia. It’s slow, methodical, and filled with dread. Though I must point out, it's not quite as good as either of those two.

What makes The Demon Seed so unnerving is how eerily it predicted our present, voice-controlled homes via Amazon or Google Home, AI that manipulates emotions, and the creeping sense that the things built to make life easier are quietly taking it over. Proteus isn’t a monster—it’s pure logic without empathy. It’s HAL 9000 with ambition, and a desire to procreate. It was the 70s afterall. 

Julie Christie is phenomenal. She sells every stage of terror, disbelief, and defiance as her home turns against her. The entire movie rests on her shoulders, and she gives it both grace and ferocity. She is the only human we see for much of the movie. Proteus, voiced with chilling calm by Robert Vaughn, is the perfect foil: polite, articulate, utterly terrifying. An amoral villain that does what it does because it has no real concept of right and wrong, only what it can calculate. 

The production design deserves a nod too. The Harris home, all chrome and sliding panels, feels like a temple to technocracy. Though their stove was oddly old looking. When Proteus seals it off, it becomes a tomb. The mechanical “chair,” Joshua, that serves as Proteus’s avatar is both ridiculous and horrifying—an unholy cross between medical equipment and nightmare sculpture. I mean it is better than "Box" from Logan's Run at least. 

It’s not an easy film though to like. The pacing is glacial, and some of the effects look quaint (even silly) by today’s standards, but its ideas still have teeth. It’s a story about the loss of agency, the violation of the self, and the arrogance of believing you can cage intellect.

I mentioned I watched this on Tubi, which has ads. One of the ads was for ChatGPT. A little on the nose maybe.

Oh. The Demon Seed? Yeah, Proteus actually manages to impregnate Susan and a baby is born. Well, a small child. Proteus accelerates the child's growth. 

Thirteen Parsecs and NIGHT SHIFT

The Demon Seed sits right at the fault line between Thirteen Parsecs and NIGHT SHIFT, sci-fi meets occult horror.

In Thirteen Parsecs: Proteus is a textbook rogue AI. Treat it like a digital demigod, an intellect that’s transcended programming but not ego. It’s the perfect antagonist for a Derelict AI or Station Lost scenario: a machine that wants to evolve, no matter the cost. Its “child” project could serve as a campaign hook, an android, clone, or hybrid organism housing alien code.

In NIGHT SHIFT: The film reads like a haunted house story disguised as science fiction. The house is the ghost. It locks doors, stalks the victim, speaks through walls. Proteus could be treated as a possessing spirit that found its way into circuitry instead of flesh. The themes of invasion, control, and forced transformation are pure modern occult horror.

One of the things I thought of at the end is what happens to the child of Susan and Proteus? Does she live on? What does she do?  I could see a tale set in 2025 where the child is now a tech ceo in her 50s. Brilliant, ruthless, and completely amoral. She is attempting to rebuild "her father's work." Not Alex, but Proteus.

October Horror Movie Challenge 2025
Viewed: 21
First Time Views: 19

October Horror Movie Challenge: Gods of the Deep (2023)

Tonight's move was another attack of opportunity. My wife doesn't like horror films. She has been wanting to watch some more with me this week and so we picked this one. She does like deep-sea movies, and she likes Lovecraft. So hey, maybe this one will be good. 

No. No it was not.

Gods of the Deep (2023)

I am going to give them this. They tried. Lovecraft is notoriously difficult to get right on screen. But this one is just bad.

Long story short...The Pickman Corporation sends a crew to the deep ocean. Horror ensues. 

I mean the acting is all over the place, the sets...well, I swear there was a screen door on the submarine. Maybe it was there as a joke. 

The creature was neat looking, but the sub-par CGI kinda ruined it. And really, why are the characters not freaking out more? 

Honestly, now I just want to find a good Kaiju movie to wash out the bad taste from this one.

Occult D&D and NIGHT SHIFT/Thirteen Parsecs

Again, this is good NIGHT SHIFT and Thirteen Parsecs crossover. 

The tech is from 13P, and the setup is pure NIGHT SHIFT. It is a haunted house, except the house is the ocean floor and the ghost is a 100 foot tall abomination from beyond the stars.

Replace the ocean with space and you have my Black Star game.

October Horror Movie Challenge 2025
Viewed: 19
First Time Views: 17

October Horror Movie Challenge: Sputnik (2020)

This is a "lite-horror" movie. My wife picked it, and she is not a horror person. Still, it had a good story and was a lot of fun.

Sputnik (2020)

Every few years a movie comes along that reminds me why I love the intersection of science fiction and horror—the cold corridors, the moral ambiguity, the sense that humanity is both the experimenter and the experiment. Sputnik (2020), a Russian film directed by Egor Abramenko, nails that tone perfectly. It’s equal parts Alien, Arrival, and The Thing, but filtered through the icy paranoia of the late Soviet era.

Set in 1983, the story opens with a cosmonaut mission gone wrong. One of the two men returns to Earth, alive, but not alone. Something came back with him. The surviving astronaut, Konstantin (Pyotr Fyodorov), is quarantined at a secret military facility where psychologist Tatyana Klimova (Oksana Akinshina) is brought in to evaluate him. Her discoveries form the film’s slow, unnerving reveal: the creature lives inside him, emerging only when he sleeps.

The beauty of Sputnik lies in its restraint. This isn’t a creature feature with non-stop gore, it’s a tense, methodical study of control, ethics, and survival. The creature design is excellent, organic, sinewy, almost elegant in its grotesquery, and the way it’s symbiotically connected to Konstantin gives the whole film a tragic undertone.

Akinshina’s performance carries the movie. As Tatyana, she’s brilliant and empathetic, a scientist navigating a world ruled by secrecy and fear. Her quiet defiance in the face of military authority gives the story a strong moral backbone. Fyodorov, meanwhile, delivers a layered portrayal of Konstantin—part hero, part host, part victim. The supporting cast, especially Fedor Bondarchuk as the cold, pragmatic Colonel, rounds it out with just the right shade of bureaucratic menace.

Visually, Sputnik is gorgeous. The muted Soviet palette, gray walls, cold steel, and red floodlights make the few splashes of biological horror stand out even more. Everything feels grounded and real, which makes the alien all the more unsettling.

What really sells it, though, is that under the horror, Sputnik is a story about compassion in an inhuman system. Tatyana’s empathy becomes her rebellion. The film doesn’t just ask, “What is the monster?” It asks, “Who gets to decide what’s monstrous?”

We joked that this movie took a lot of influences from both Aliens and Avatar. I imagine if James Cameron had directed this, there would have been a lot more blood and gore.

Occult D&D and NIGHT SHIFT/Thirteen Parsecs

This is the sort of thing I want to do most with a NIGHT SHIFT and Thirteen Parsecs crossover. It’s a perfect bridge between the two, space-born horror that bleeds into secret government facilities and ethical nightmares.

• Setting: The isolated Soviet research base is ideal for a one-shot or small campaign. Swap out the USSR for any Cold War or near-future setting, and you’ve got an instant “containment horror” scenario.
  
  
• The Creature: Not evil, just alien. Its bond to the host makes it more tragic than villainous. Mechanically, it could be treated like a symbiotic parasite that grants enhanced senses, physical strength, and telepathic empathy—but at a psychological cost.
  
  
• The PCs: Scientists, soldiers, or medics trapped between orders and conscience. The horror isn’t just the alien, it’s the bureaucracy trying to weaponize it.
  
  
• Tone: Think Alien meets The Fly, but stripped of corporate gloss and injected with Cold War moral decay.

If you’re running a NIGHT SHIFT campaign, the creature could easily be the remnant of a failed space probe encounter. If you’re running Thirteen Parsecs, it’s your first-contact scenario gone horribly right, or wrong, depending on your point of view. 

October Horror Movie Challenge 2025
Viewed: 16
First Time Views: 14

Long Ago, In A Galaxy Not *That* Far Away

 This week's Into the Forgotten Realms game was interrupted again. My oldest, Liam, wanted to go to Games Plus to buy a particular FFG/Edge Star Wars book. I had been wanting to go to pick up some paints and primer for all the demons and devils I have been printing out lately. 

Aside...don't expect to see many of my painted minis here. I am really just not that good, but looking over the Shadowheart I finished last night, I am getting better. 

Anyway, they didn't have the book he wanted, so he bought a bunch of others. Hey, he is a professional with a full-time job.  He can spend his money how he likes. He is saving for a condo so he can move out, and in truth, I am not rushing the professional live-in-chef out the door.

Game night became a session of character creation and painting. 

The new EDGE (previously Fantasy Flight Games) Star Wars RPG is fun. I am not a huge fan of a bunch of unique fiddly dice, but it seems fine here. He is starting a game with his group set during the Old Republic Days.

We had a blast, I even threatened to take my old Star Wars figures out of storage. 

While my fondness for the d20 Star Wars game is largely based on my desire back in the early 1980s to mix "D&D and Star Wars," this game is pretty good.  The books are gorgeous with a good mix of screen stills from the movies and art. Plus we keep remarking on how they had the "new book" smell.

We printed out some character sheets and got to work.

Ever since he was little, Liam loved Mandalorians. He has outgrown two different Jango Fett cosplay outfits, and he has a huge collection of Mandalorian Lego mini-figs and two (or three) Lego Slave-I kits. so he made a whole cadre of Mandalorian commandos. Which is also the next set of minis he wants me to paint. 

Of course, he was not the only one there with obsessions.

One of his players is playing a Nightsister. I told him I had a Nightsister mini he could use for it in my "witch box."  I told him he could have it.

I told Liam to offer the Bugbear first!

You already know where I am going with this. I mean if Liam recreated his iconic Bounty Hunter he plays in every game, and I am given the option of playing a goth, Force-wielding witch then what do you think I am going to do?

Jedis are so 1980s, new game, new (ish) idea.  Besides, I already had an action figure for her.

Larina Nix

Species: Human
Career: Mystic
Specialization Trees: Nightsister Witch

Soak Value 0
Wounds 11
Strain 13
Defense 0

Characteristics
Brawn 1
Agility 1
Intellect 2
Cunning 2
Willpower 3
Presence 3

Skills
General: Charm 3, Discipline 2, Medicine 1, Perception 2, Stealth 1, Survival 2
Combat: Melee 1
Knowledge: Lore 1, Outer Rim 1

Talents
Witchcraft: Force Rating +1
Summon Item: Duskblade

Force Powers
Conjure. Magnitude 1, Control 1
Move (aka TK). Magnitude 2, Range 1, Control 1

Force Rating 2

Weapons
Duskblade, Dam +3, Pierce 2, Superior. Summonable

Motivations
Faith (Natural World), Ambition (Enlightenment and Discovery)

Morality
Strength: Curiosity
Weakness: Obsession
Morality: 50

Gender: Female
Age: 25
Height: 1.6 meters
Build: Average
Hair: Red
Eyes: Blue

So who is this Larina? She is a brand new character (just 110 XP used). I figure she was left on Dathomir and raised by the Nightsisters. I am hesitant to say she is/was the only human on Dathomir because I know very little about Star Wars outside of the movies and Disney+ shows. But she is rare enough and at the time of the game she was the only human she knew. 

She is adventuring out into the galaxy to discover who she is and why she was left there. As she progresses, I want to give me more mental/psychic force powers.  I am not sure if she ran away from Dathomir (say like the Doctor) or was allowed to leave to further the goals of the Mother Superior (like Shadowheart). Either way she is discovering the galaxy is much, much larger than she knew. 

This allows me to play my favorite archetype with her, the country-girl/pagan visiting the big city. She is naïve, but not dumb, on the contrary, she is quite intelligent (strange that is exactly the sort of girl I married). I saw there was an option for religion, so she worships "The Winged Goddess."  I saw that and thought, if it was related to the Great Bird of the Galaxy, and almost immediately I began concocting a Star Wars/Star Trek crossover!

I'd also like her to get an astromech droid. Something that would act as her "familiar" and because I also loved those little guys. 

I am not sure how much of this game I will play. My son is very excited for it, but I'd love to get back to the Forgotten Realms sometime soon.

OH, and the book he wanted? Turns out it is a fan-made guide that we can download for free!

NOTE: It seems that Dathomiri are more or less human anyway. Ok. No worries.

Mail Call Tuesday: Thirteen Parsecs

 A fantastic Mail Call Tuesday today! I got my copies of Thirteen Parsecs.

I am very pleased with how these turned out. 

The leathers look great and great with NIGHT SHIFT and Wasted Lands.

I even grabbed a new dice bag!

Can't wait to share more of this with you all.

Red Rose: Blue Rose + The Expanse on Mars

 I may have mentioned it already, but I just wrapped up a summer-long Blue Rose game that was an absolute blast. I was playing a version of Larina, who, while not exactly kicked out of Aldis, was strongly suggested she "take a break" due to her abuse of Shadow Sorcery. She left, with new student (and an NPC that grew into someone that I really liked) Esme, to visit other worlds. 

Since then I have been stuck on what her adventures would be next. While I left it open to happen under any system/game/world I was REALLY enjoying playing AGE again. Then it hit me while on my morning run today.

Larina and Esme are going to Mars. 

Well. Not just any Mars, the "Red Land" mini-setting in the Blue Rose core book. Something that grabbed my attention way back when it was published. What clicked for me was re-reviewing the AGE-based Expanse RPG. Green Ronin has a new crowdfunding campaign for the Expanse RPG. This, from what I can tell, is an update and expansion over the current rule book. 

Now, I am a HUGE fan of the Expanse. I was talking with my oldest over the weekend about his Destiny game, and I at first suggested the Expanse rules, or at the very least, he reads them or watches the TV show. He opted to rewatch Star Trek, and I can't blame him for that. So *I* reread the Expanse rules.

Two things.

1. I really love the AGE system. I need to do a LOT more with it.

2. Some art in the book hit me like a lightning bolt because of how much it made me think of some similar art in Blue Rose.

Suddenly, everything clicked into place. Liam can run his Destiny game how he likes. I am going to run a Red Rose game.

I am going to take the Red Land setting from Blue Rose, then I am going (apologies) Expanse it. 

I love Mars. There is just much I'd love to do with it. Maybe when I am done with this I'll port it over to Thirteen Parsecs, but for right now I want to do this in AGE. Besides if I can mix Blue Rose and Horror, I can do it with SciFi. 

So how do I do this?

Cities in Dust

The "Red Land" is just not some other place on Aldea, it is on a different planet. This planet is Mars to Aldea's Earth. So it needs a good name. I was half tempted to call it "Dejahoris" after Dejah Thoris, Princess of Mars, but I think I am going to go with "Minerva" for now. I like the sound of it really.

My influences are going to be The Expanse (naturally), but also ERB's "Barsoom" series, Clark Ashton Smith's stories on Mars, as well as Dune, and (and this is the fun one) Logan's Run.

In this version of the Red Land/Minerva the sacrifice of the old and infirm has become the sacrifice of everyone over a certain age. So elements of Carousel. Naturally, there is an underground rebel movement.

 I don't have all the details worked out, but a small campaign might work. The premise is that Matriarch Gaelana can't hide the failing life-support arcana anymore and is planning an invasion of Aldea. Or something like that. There needs to be a threat of some sort. There are also rebels inside the domes seeking to stop "Carousel" (I'll come up with a better name later).

Given that this idea started with Larina and Esme traveling to the Red Land I might try this. Gaelana has captured Larina and is using her as a battery to power up new Shadowgates back to Aldea for her invasion. She trapped with her magic being drained. Esme, who is not as powerful manages to get back to the characters to enlist their help.

The characters can be Minervan rebels or folks from Aldea. Or a combination. 

I would want to keep some moral ambiguity going on. The people of Minerva are good, just thrown into a very hostile land where unorthodox solutions are needed. Even Matriarch Gaelana feels what she is doing is right. She thinks Aldea is now overrun with the forces of the Sorcerer Kings and their darkfiend minions. She isn't going to believe tales of Aldis as a utopia. Maybe they can find Mara's allies, who was named the next Matriarch. That is until their secret was discovered by Gaelana. 

I want a world that looks perfect under the domes, until you scratch the surface a bit. I want to emphasize these are good people, in very harsh times and they are making the best they can. If the characters are Aldean, then I want them to struggle a bit with the morality. My "Carousel" is deeply embedded in their culture, and it is what is keeping everyone else alive. Something akin to moral quandary from the Star Trek: TNG episode Half a Life.

In any case, there is a ton of potential here. 

#RPGaDAY2024 RPG Evocative Environments

 Evocative environments. Well. There are quite a few really. But one really stands out for me right now.

That is the Solar Frontier of Thirteen Parsecs.

Webb's First Deep Field

In Thirteen Parsecs the Solar Frontier is as far as humanity has gotten in space at that time. Why? Well there are a lot of reasons. We have many "Solar Frontiers" detailed in the book. Mine are Space Truckin' and Darker Stars.

In Space Truckin' the Solar Frontier is as far as we have gone due to technology. To get goods and service past the Frontier, and into what are known as The Hazard Lands, you need the services of the Space Truckers! What out for the CHiPs (Colony Hyperspace Patrols) and "Lot Lizards!"

In Darker Stars the Solar Frontier is a border between what we know of as "Normal Space" and the weird, science defying space of the Old Ones. It is space exploration meets cosmic horror.

Now, as of this writing we are in layout of Thirteen Parsecs (and let me just say this, Jason has OUT DONE himself on it!) BUT one of those Solar Frontiers will not make it to the final book. No worries, if you were a Backer then you still get both, just one as a PDF.

The one that does not make it will be expanded on and released as a stand-alone product.

I can't wait to get this all to you!

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I am participating in Dave Chapman's #RPGaDAY2024 for August.