Just have to say...Fantastic Voyage has held up...

After thinking about the shrunken adventurer genre a bit, I decided to give 1966's Fantastic Voyage another watch last weekend, and I thought it'd be worth noting here that the movie has really held up to the passage of time.  It is, in some ways, a seminal work in this sub-sub-subgenre - to the extent that the TV Tropes wiki simply calls this style of adventure the "Fantastic Voyage" plot - and in my mind, it's quite deserving.

The film is, without a doubt, quite dated.  It really feels like 60s sci-fi...and I love that aspect of it.  The (Oscar-winning!) special effects are trippy and somewhat mesmerizing.  It also took home the statue for Art Direction that year, and I can certainly see why as the movie overall just looks cool.  And that's not just the special effects...the sterile look of the facility where the CMDF (Combined Miniature Deterrent Forces) operates sets a nice tone for the more grounded aspects of the film.

One thing that could probably be a drawback for many viewers is that the process of getting the crew shrunk down and into the human body takes forever.  I'd actually have to watch it again to note the specifics of this, but much of the early movie also runs with no music, so there's a very calm and methodical feel to it that I think extends to this scene.  Personally, I love it, as it emphasizes the danger and fragility of the process, rather than just shrinking, injecting, and moving on to the action.  BUT...I do work in a lab, so I may be drawn to that part of the storyline more than most.

Overall, if you enjoy retro SF, or even just solid SF in general, you should give this film a go at least once!

Now...how about a character?

As portrayed by William Redfield

Capt. Bill Owens

Level 4 Watercraft Pilot

AC 6[13]    HD 3d6+1 (12 HP)

Saving throw: 12

Move 12 ft.

Languages:  English, Russian

STR 11    DEX 17(+1)    CON 10    INT 14    WIS 9    CHA 9

Attack:  By weapon (+1 BHB)

Skill/tool proficiencies:  Pilot watercraft (expert), watercraft repair, perception, history

+2 to Saving Throws vs. explosions and environmental hazards

Stick Jockey (+2 to initiative in aquatic combat); Ocean Ace (may add +1 to two of a watercraft's stats each round); Jury-Rig 1x/day, 4d6 temporary HP to a watercraft

(I drew a lot of this from the Pilot class from White Star...) 

And finally...I suppose Fantastic Voyage is close enough to "military science fiction" to make this a reasonable post to tack on a wish for a happy Memorial Day to my fellow Yanks.  (I hope everyone has a happy day, of course...just calling out Americans since we're enjoying a holiday today...)  I also hope you'll take a moment to reflect on its meaning.  There are a lot of folks who sacrificed everything to help give us this world where I can spend time writing silly stuff on the interwebs.  Our country is in a weird spot, where one side of the political spectrum has attempted to stake a claim to patriotism, to the point that aspects of it have started to seem especially toxic to many who oppose them.  I'd like to think that something like Memorial Day is a great time for us all to find common ground in appreciation for those who truly have helped to maintain our freedom by giving their lives.

Geeky SKAturday: Poe Dameron's ska band

The Google news feed on my phone is largely crammed with inconsequential clickbait that the algorithm knows I'm just weak enough to fall for.  Sometimes, however, this clickbait is actually an intriguing convergence of my interests that - while still inconsequential - is cool enough that I'm glad I fell for it.

This was the case month or so ago when articles started to pop up about Star Wars' Oscar Isaac and his history in a ska band...

From mickeyblog.com

He's actually been in more than one, apparently, but the one that features most prominently in these stories is the Blinking Underdogs, shown here...

It's pretty catchy and fun stuff, and they seem like a talented crew, having shared stages with Green Day and the Mighty Mighty Bosstones.  It also isn't really surprising to see that Isaac is such a charismatic performer.  He seems like a bit of a ham.

I'm going to try giving a "proper" listen to whatever Blinking Underdogs stuff I can uncover now.

And of course...why not a character?

From Wookieepedia

Poe Dameron

Homeworld:  Yavin 4

Level 4 Pilot

AC 6[13]    HD 3d6+1 (12 HP)

Saving throw: 12

Move 12 ft.

STR 11    DEX 17(+1)    CON 13    INT 11    WIS 12    CHA 15(+1)

Attack:  Blaster +2 (1d6+2 damage)

+2 to Saving Throws vs. explosions and environmental hazards

Stick Jockey (+2 to initiative in starship combat); Space Ace (may add +1 to two of a starship's stats each round); Jury-Rig 1x/day, 4d6 temporary HP to a starship

(Used the Pilot class from White Star for this one.)

Thinking about an OSR blogging challenge...

So, I've been thinking a bit about April's A to Z blogging challenge and what I might want to take on this year.  One of the ideas that I hit on, and that I think I'd like to pursue, is to take an RPG setting idea (I think I'll go with the Paleolithic Adventures that I mused about in one of my first posts on this blog) and map out its components to the alphabet, so that by the time the month is over, I have something that can be compiled into a form that others might like to see.  It kind of fits an idea I've thought about trying on here, that I call "Filling up a White Box," in which I'd take the OGL skeleton of the Swords & Wizardry WhiteBox Rules and systematically reskin them into a different game.  So, maybe it'd be called "Filling up a White Box with Rocks."  Heh.

Anyway, the more I thought about it, the more I realized how much I'd like to see what other people would do with a similar task.  Ever since the monster known as the d20 system brought us "D&D" for every genre imaginable, I've loved seeing people take the basics of the class+level+icosahedral-combat rules system and expand it into new realms.  Like those old Dungeon magazine microgames...those were awesome, right?  Some people are clearly quite gifted at this (I'm looking at +James Spahn and +Simon Washbourne here, among others), but we could all probably do a decent job with a little structure, eh?

Then I realized that this might be even better as its own "challenge," since it could be ordered based on the needs of the task itself rather than...the alphabet.  Like the challenge goes something like:  (1) Theme, (2) Races and classes, (3) Equipment...etc., with questions for each one that would encourage fleshing out the game.  I just think it'd be awesome to see people pick a topic they've always wanted to explore, or maybe have explored in their games, and bring it to life.  Like someone's game is about juvenile magic-users at a wizard's school, and another one is Matrix-style gnostic cyberpunk, and someone does Super Sentai, and there's a Vampire clone, and...and...maybe someone hits upon something amazing...!

Well, I have about one good idea a week, and I thought I used that up a few hours ago when I decided tonight should be taco night, but I really like thinking about what this could be if others were interested.  So, does anyone have any thoughts on how I could get the most mileage out of this?  What would encourage others to participate?  Or am I just a bit loopy on a Friday afternoon?