[Fanzine Focus XXXV] Crawling Under A Broken Moon Issue No. 5

On the tail of Old School Renaissance has come another movement—the rise of the fanzine. Although the fanzine—a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon, got its start in Science Fiction fandom, in the gaming hobby it first started with Chess and Diplomacy fanzines before finding fertile ground in the roleplaying hobby in the 1970s. Here these amateurish publications allowed the hobby a public space for two things. First, they were somewhere that the hobby could voice opinions and ideas that lay outside those of a game’s publisher. Second, in the Golden Age of roleplaying when the Dungeon Masters were expected to create their own settings and adventures, they also provided a rough and ready source of support for the game of your choice. Many also served as vehicles for the fanzine editor’s house campaign and thus they showed another Dungeon Master and group played said game. This would often change over time if a fanzine accepted submissions. Initially, fanzines were primarily dedicated to the big three RPGs of the 1970s—Dungeons & Dragons, RuneQuest, and Traveller—but fanzines have appeared dedicated to other RPGs since, some of which helped keep a game popular in the face of no official support.

Since 2008 with the publication of Fight On #1, the Old School Renaissance has had its own fanzines. The advantage of the Old School Renaissance is that the various Retroclones draw from the same source and thus one Dungeons & Dragons-style RPG is compatible with another. This means that the contents of one fanzine will compatible with the Retroclone that you already run and play even if not specifically written for it. Labyrinth Lord and Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Roleplay have proved to be popular choices to base fanzines around, as has Swords & Wizardry. Another popular choice of system for fanzines, is Goodman Games’ Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game, such as Crawl! and Crawling Under a Broken Moon. Some of these fanzines provide fantasy support for the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game, but others explore other genres for use with Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game. One such fanzine is the aforementioned Crawling Under A Broken Moon.

Crawling Under A Broken Moon Fanzine Issue No. 5 was published in in December, 2014 by Shield of Faith Studios. It continued the detailing of post-apocalyptic setting of Umerica and Urth which had begun in Crawling Under A Broken Moon Fanzine Issue No. 1, and would be continued in Crawling Under A Broken Moon Fanzine Issue No. 2, which added further Classes, monsters, and weapons, Crawling Under A Broken Moon Fanzine Issue No. 3, which provided the means to create Player Characters and gave them a Character Funnel to play, and Crawling Under A Broken Moon Fanzine Issue No. 4, which detailed several Patrons for the setting. The setting has, of course, gone on to be presented in more detail in The Umerican Survival Guide – Core Setting Guide, now distributed by Goodman Games. The setting itself is a world brought about after a rogue object from deep space passed between the Earth and the Moon and ripped apart time and space, leaving behind a planet which would recover and it inhabitants ruled by savagery, cruel sorcery, and twisted science.

Crawling Under A Broken Moon Fanzine Issue No. 5 is where the fanzine really begins to deliver on its promise of gonzo post-apocalyptic content. This is because it has to take its inspiration—its very obvious inspiration—and adapt that without incurring any legal issues, making it playable, and making its source recognisable. This is because that inspiration is He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, the cartoon series based on the toy line from Mattel of the same name. Unfortunately, the history of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe and gaming has been decidedly spotty, including a poorly received Masters of the Universe Roleplaying Game published by FASA, Inc. in 1985 and the more recent He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Battleground miniatures skirmish game from Archon Studios. Sadly, the planned Legends of Grayskull: Masters of the Universe Tabletop RPG using Cortex Prime from Fandom, the company behind Dungeons & Dragons online tool D&D Beyond, is yet to appear. In the meantime, there is Crawling Under A Broken Moon, Issue No. 5, which serves up something almost, but not quite like He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.

The issue introduces a land that lies in the northern reaches of Umerica. This is Aetheria, where the Masters of Castle Oldskull do fierce battle with the lich Skull-Or and his mighty minions in the Darklands beyond! The setting is introduced in ‘The Kingdom of Aetheria’, a land of forests and wetlands surrounding the Great Inland Sea, whose scattered tribes were united by the mighty hero, Mach-O [sic] with the strength of his sword arm and mystical arts. Dotted here and there throughout the kingdom are the ‘Grey Castles’, actually bunkers from the Forgotten War, in which can be found powerful arms and armour and even vehicles. The great Aetherian Heroes, worshipped as such by the populous, and employed by the kingdom’s rulers as protectors, covet this leftover technology, so controlling it is important. Thus, many provincial rulers take these bunkers as their headquarters and armories, controlling the flow of the technology into the hands of hired heroes.

This hero is detailed in ‘The Aetherian Hero Character Class’. Each follows the code of Mach-O in fighting evil, though the interpretation varies, so that some just fight evil and do nothing else, whilst others undertake other duties. Either way, the Aetherian Hero expects to be paid for his services. The Aetherian Hero will also need to achieve a great deed or survive a Character Funnel, if he is to be rewarded with a hero’s name and whilst he is trained in the use of most weapons and armour, he regards using anything other than Forgotten Tech artifacts or Aetherian Tech arms and armour as dishonourable and anathema. The Aetherian Hero Character Class begins play with set of Aetherian Armour and one Aetherian weapon, but can go to a Grey Castle at each Level and ask for more. The origins, material, appearance, and even Armour Class bonus of the armour is randomly determined, whilst the Aetherian Tech weapons are impressively oversized, so are not as easy to use, but do inflict extra damage and impress or intimidate in equal measure.

The Class also possesses an Honour Die, which is added to feats of Strength, attempts to intimidate or impress, and all damage rolls with melee or Forgotten Tech weapon attacks. However, it can be lost if the Aetherian Hero uses normal weapons and armour, undertakes menial labour the likes of which the peasantry would do, or refuses a challenge offered by an opponent of worthy stature. Overall, the Aetherian Hero Character Class has the feel of the big dumb, but honourable barbarian warrior, offering a technology-focused option in feel rather than play.

The technology itself is discussed in ‘Forgotten Tech of the Un Men’, the Un Men being robotic warriors programmed with human consciousness. Their technology is leftover from the Forgotten War, and whether it is a blaster, jetpack, armour, or personal vehicle, requires a power cell to work. Worse, the technology is temperamental and if it is used too often—even in the course of a day—it can suffer a meltdown and drain the power cell. The meltdown means that it simply stop functioning after rebooting, suffers a delay in its function, or even detonate! Common devices, once ubiquitous and cheap before the Forgotten War, include Power Harnesses and Power Swords, their abilities varying from device to device.

‘Into the Dark Lands’ describes the blighted, rocky land that lies to the north of Aetheria under sulphurous clouds, riddled with tunnels leading to horrible sites of ancient power and evil. It is home to two different factions which would change Aetheria if they could. The warrior Black Sun leads a number of Aetherian freemen and Tree-Hobbits against the southern kingdom in an attempt to reform the conditions of the common man, whilst the Warrior Lich, Skull-Or, powerful and corrupt wizard-hero

of Aetheria who was imprisoned in Castle Oldskull byMasters of Aetheria, where he learned its darkest secrets before escaping into the Darklands. That secret is very dark indeed—especially for wizards—and adds a nasty twist to the inspiration for Crawling Under A Broken Moon, Issue No. 5. Both Black Sun and Skull-Or are fully statted, so can appear as NPCs in the Game Master’s campaign, and in the case of Skull-Or, cackle a lot. The article really focuses on the NPCs, so the Dark Lands are underwritten.

Penultimately, ‘Castle Oldskull and the Masters of Aetheria’ details Castle Oldskull, a sapient extra dimensional fortress dedicated to the eradication of ‘evil magic’. Interestingly, it is possible for a First Level Player Character to pledge himself to Castle Oldskull and join the Masters of Aetheria. A successful applicant needs to complete a dangerous quest and only then will he become a squire. There are benefits, including healing and free ammunition for ranged weapons, but members cannot use sorcery and nor can they kill evil sorcerers. They have to be returned to Castle Oldskull for imprisonment. Included are descriptions of the current Masters of Aetheria—Mighty Man, descendant of Mach-O, Maste-at-Arms, cyborg with excellent scientific skills, Slam Man who magic helm is so tough he can survive any blow to the head—and more, most notably Geek-O, an inept and bumbling magician from another dimension! Castle Oldskull is essentially a character in its own right with its own agenda, not always aligned with those of the Player Characters.

Lastly, the regular column of ‘Twisted Menagerie’ details two new monsters. These are the ‘Serpentoid’, a muscular two-headed serpent man with an evil outlook and a liking for the mutagenic herbs that grow in the Dark Lands, each has a different mutation, like a prehensile tongue or a hideous rattle, and an ‘Un-Men’, one of the Robotic Tyrants from the Forgotten War, rarely found, but if so, typically in hibernation mode. These range from flamethrowers and plasma cannons to extension arms and Hypno Vox, and that is in addition to the Drones—effectively flying blasters—hosted by each ‘Un-Men’. Together, these add an extra pair of threats to the Dark Lands and are decently done.

Physically, Crawling Under A Broken Moon Fanzine Issue No. 5 is serviceably presented. It is a little rough around the edges, as is some of the artwork, but overall, it is a decent affair.

The problem with Crawling Under A Broken Moon Fanzine Issue No. 5 is that much of its contents have been represented to a more professional standard in the pages of The Umerican Survival Guide – Core Setting Guide, so it has been superseded and superseded by a cleaner, slicker presentation of the material.

Crawling Under A Broken Moon Fanzine Issue No. 5 is a big improvement over Crawling Under A Broken Moon Fanzine Issue No. 4. It has more usable content, even if it is devoted to one theme. And what a theme it is! Over the top, ever so slightly tongue in cheek post-apocalypse Swords & Sorcery, very knowingly inspired by Saturday morning cartoons of the eighties, given an ever so slight, but dark twist. The result is engaging and entertaining, with easy to spot and embrace references, such that even the gamer with the barest of knowledge of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (and to an extent, She-Ra: Princess of Power) can play with the contents of Crawling Under A Broken Moon Fanzine Issue No. 5.