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 how another Dungeon Master and her 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 the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game. One such fanzine is the aforementioned Crawling Under A Broken Moon.
Crawling Under A Broken Moon fanzine No. #12 continues the humour of the previous issue and puts satire right on the cover with the depiction of a clown-like server delivering a tray of fast food whilst wearing a badge that reads, “I HEART to serve man.” Which can be interpreted in many ways. Except not, because let us not dance around the issue—or rather, the theme of the issue. To cut to the chase, Crawling Under A Broken Moon fanzine No. #12 is the cannibal issue and Crawling Under A Broken Moon fanzine No. #12 is the fast food issue. Both of which are combined in a cannibal cult that is a parody of certain global fast food franchise. Subtle Crawling Under A Broken Moon fanzine No. #12 is not.
The issue also continues the examination of religion from the previous issue, because patrons know that at every branch of Buddy O’Burger, for a small donation, be served fresh, tasty food by happy clowns and receive the word of the humour-filled gospel of Buddy O’Burger, the beneficent Burger god. So effectively, Buddy O’Burger is very minor cult with a lot of branches. Except that both the restaurants and the cult dedicated to the Burger god are a front. Where Buddy O’Burger, the beneficent Burger god appears dedicated to feasting and customer service, it is actually dedicated to feasting, customer service, and cannibalism! Most people accept the branches of Buddy O’Burger for what they are, but there are heretics and naysayers (otherwise known as food critics), who criticise both food and the cult. Often when a new branch of Buddy O’Burger opens up, they are the first to disappear.
As well as presenting the history of the cult from its founding to its current widespread status, the issue presents a handful of scenario hooks, amusingly listed under the ‘O’Burger Adventure Value Menu’. These include having to rescue a warlord’s children that have been harvested for the O’Burger value menu or having to defend against an O’Burger hit squad determined to stock up on meat. It is possible to play a Buddy O’Burger cultist in the form of ‘The Clownight’, who looks like he is wearing clown makeup, but has actually been transformed into a clown and been ‘blessed’ with all of a clown’s garish, bulbous features! ‘The Clownight’ has rubbery skin so gets an Armour Class bonus, a jaw filled with multiple rows of ever-sharpening, gnashing teeth for bite damage, and can gorge himself to temporarily enter food rage and gain an Attack Bonus Die. As Classes go, ‘The Clownight’ is definitely weird and creepy, and possibly too unsettling for some due to the high probability that the Class is a cannibal.
Buddy O’Burger himself gets the full Dungeon Crawl Classics treatment as a god in ‘Buddy O’Burger: the god clown patron’, which though replicates some description given earlier in the issue, does present some entertaining spells for his devotees. The Crave inflicts hunger on the caster’s opponents, Healing Feast summons a range of options from the O’Burger menu, and Meat Harvest opens a portal from the High Burger Temple through which giant gloved hands reach forth and grab the caster’s opponents for meat processing. The parody of the fast food franchise continues with ‘The Circus of Friends: The pantheon of the immortal servants of Buddy O’Burger’ including the Grumpus, a purplish, hippopotamus-like creature only placated by a frosty O’Burger milkshake, but is rumoured to mumble out prophecies that come true (which is why he is kept locked up by Buddy O’Burger in the High Burger Temple where he has his own agenda) and the Fry Filcher, a shadowy cloaked figure who steals french fries, but actually operates as a spy for Buddy O’Burger. Parallels between these servants and the other characters from that other fast food franchise are intentional, but given a sharp twist.
In between, ‘What is in that Jolly Meal box?’ gives a range of thematic, but minor artefacts such as Pocket Compass that always points to the nearest branch of O’Burger and collectable toys that give benefits if the owner eats at a O’Burger restaurant at least once a week, like being able to reroll a failed vehicle control roll once a week for the O’Krazy Kar toy. The inventiveness does not stop there, ‘The Delicious Artifacts of Doctor Dippinstein’ describing several artefacts in some detail. For example, each time a bite is taken out of The Double Death Deluxe Burger, it permanently increases the Stamina and Luck of the consumer, but several random creatures or persons within a mile drop dead. The consumer is aware of this. Eat blithely or at the peril of conscience…
The theme continues in ‘Twisted Menagerie’ with more fast food inspired monsters. The Clownug is a trusted servant of Buddy O’Burger which uses its clown-fun image to harvest ‘meat’ for processing, whilst the ‘Clownaut’ is the ultimate protector of the Buddy O’Burger, a giant clown. Lastly, the Fryder is a spider-like golem, searingly hot because it is made of fresh French fries. They hate all humanoids, but as you would expect, are very tasty once killed. Lastly, the issue ends with ‘Avatar Golems: The tools of the lesser mascot gods’, which gives the Judge the means to create lesser known mascots of the pre-cataclysm world and turn them into aspects of her own campaign world.
Physically, Crawling Under A Broken Moon Fanzine Issue No. 12 is as serviceably presented and as a little rough around the edges as the other fanzines in the line. However, some of the artwork is better than in past issues, perhaps inspired by the theme of the issue and consumption of a Buddy O’Burger Jolly Meal box. Of course, the problem with Crawling Under A Broken Moon Fanzine Issue No. 12 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 by a cleaner, slicker presentation of the material.
Your reaction to Crawling Under A Broken Moon Fanzine Issue No. 12 is going to vary depending upon how you feel about clowns and cannibalism, let alone fast food. The contents in the issue are tasteless, even distasteful, but they are parody, adding a fresh and garnished meat patty of dark satire to the world of Umerica that is decidedly well done. Of course, the content (though its tone may not) will work with other post apocalyptic roleplaying games and not just the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game or Mutant Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game – Triumph & Technology Won by Mutants & Magic.
