Crawl! Zine w/ Loot the Body Song
Plus More Marc Bolan: Conan vs. Elric & Witch Dream - Minimalist Pulp Fantasy Game
Loot the Body has released a cool instrumental track that serves as “an intro theme” for issue number 13 of the renowned Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG zine Crawl!. Listen to the song here:
If you’re not familiar with the Crawl! zine, it’s “made by fans, for fans, in the classic style of punk-rock zines found in record shops and info-shops.” This issue features content by Rev. Dak J. Ultimak, R.S. Tilton, and Mark Bishop, and its contents are described as follows:
“An adventure and toolkit for running a DEATHMATCH!—A deadly game that will test the mind and bodies of unwilling (or willing?) adventurers trapped in some mad power’s twisted realm.”
The Loot the Body Bandcamp page provides directions for using the song to support the mechanics of the DEATHMATCH! game. You can buy the Crawl! zine from the Goodman Games web store.
And if that’s not enough, Loot the Body has also contributed music to a current Kickstarter campaign from Fantasy Audio Magazine.
More Marc Bolan: Conan vs. Elric
In last week’s Critical Hit Parader, I shared the following quote from Marc Bolan about not liking Conan as a character compared to Moorcock’s Elric:
“In fact, I don’t like Conan as a character—I think he should be something less of a barbarian, more like one of Michael Moorcock’s characters,” Bolan added. “You could make a much better composite character using Moorcock’s Elric, with a bit of the Silver Surfer, a bit of Thor, and create a far more involved character, a character more in touch with now.”
Christian Lindke subsequently challenged Bolan’s viewpoint and provides a thoughtful comparison of Conan and Elric in his latest The Geekerati Newsletter. Here are a couple of excerpts from Christian’s analysis:
“Interestingly, Elric isn’t a critique of Conan. Instead, it’s a version of Conan that explores the issues of Civilization vs. Savagery from an angle. Moorcock’s Elric stories are as critical of the corrupting nature of stagnant civilizations as Howard’s Conan stories. Elric’s homeland is corrupt to the core and wallows in aesthetics over morality of any kind.”
…
“The Elric character, being highly cultured rather than a barbarian, allows Moorcock to make the same critiques Howard does without people misreading them.”
I encourage you to read Christian’s full commentary and subscribe to his newsletter here:
Witch Dream - Minimalist Pulp Fantasy Game
To continue the Elric and Conan themes, Scott Malthouse from Trollish Delver Games has recently released Witch Dream. It is described as a “highly minimalist adventure game based on fantasy pulps like Elric, Conan and Jirel of Joiry.” Check out this more detailed description:
Imagine another world, one whose destiny you can shape like wet clay. A world of serpent spires and crystal cities, of malign sorcery and seas of blood. Imagine becoming an explorer of this strange and brilliant world, plundering lost treasures from ages undreamed of and doing battle against nightmarish foes. Imagine growing old here as a stout veteran, toppling kings and razing cities.
This is the world of Witch Dream - a living, breathing place of exquisite dangers and monstrous ambitions. Within this world you will live many lives as time passes just like in our reality. Gather your allies and open the portal to a realm like no other.
Scott was a previous guest on my Appendix LP Podcast, and he is an imaginative, prolific designer with impeccable music taste.