In Memory of Al Plastino

On November 25, 2013,  the artist who gave us the first look at Supergirl and the Legion of Superheroes passed way. At 91, Al Plastino was, according to Mark Evanier, the last remaining living artist to have drawn Superman stories in the 1950s. He was also one of the few remaining writers and artists alive who helped lay the foundations for the comic book industry in the 1940s.

NUELOW Games observes Plastino's passing and honors his memory with a small collection of his earliest known comic book creations -- Al Plastino Early Work: 1940 -41. In fact, it features the very first comic book story he is known to have illustrated, as well as the earliest characters he is known to have co-created, or perhaps even created solo; records regarding who did what were rare among Golden Age publishers and virtually unheard of at the Harry "A" Chesler studio for whom Plastino drew these stories.

As it our habit, the book also features original roleplaying game content inspired by the comics -- in this case it's a brief description of Dynamic Man's first foes and a talent tree for use with OGL d20 Modern -- but it is Plastino's creations that are front and center this time. More-so than any other of our releases.

We hope you'll join us in remembering this fine and influential artist by taking a look at his roots -- and the very roots of comic book storytelling.

For previews or to get your own copy of Al Plastino Early Work: 1940 - 41, click here. Comments on the book, or just thoughts about Al Plastino's work in general, are welcomed in the comments section here or at the listing on the website.

In the Interest of Public Safety....

Dear Friends,

We hope this message reaches you in time,

This morning, we have seen news reports of shootings and stabbings and beatings at Black Friday sales across the nation. Please don't become a victim. We don't want any of our fans (or any gamers, really)  to get hurt.

In the interest of public welfare, we urge ALL gamers to instead gather their groups and hunker down with dice and paper and pencils and roleplay or rollplay until this crisis has past. Trust us: You will sill find cheap TVs when their are less crazy people off their meds in the stores.

In the meantime, as a public service, to encourage you to stay at home safely, we have marked 15 percent off on all of our comics/rpg hybrid products, all of our fiction anthologies (including the complete Robert E. Howard Collection), core rulebooks, OGL Modern supplements, and anything else that usually sells for more than $0.50. Yes--even the Stock Art Collections, so if you're a small publisher of e-books, maybe now is a time to take a look at them!

The special prices will last through this coming Monday. So let's stay safe IN there.

Click here to check out the NUELOW Games catalog of books and RPG stuff.

Two new comics/RPG hybrids available now

The latest ebooks from NUELOW Games continue our ongoing efforts to bring great Golden Age comics to modern readers while simultaneously presenting fun new game material.

First up, we have ROLF!: Hawaiian Manhunt. It features a classic Sally the Sleuth episode by Adolphe Barreuax, a trio of outrageous battle scenarios that form a sort-of sequel by ROLF! co-creator L.L. Hundal, and pre-generated characters and two all-new Spellings --"Change Trait" and "Oh, No You Didn't!" (This marks Sally's third appearance in ROLF!, with Turkey Shoot and A Recipe for Evil being the previous two.)

Then, just released this past weekend, we offer a look at a certified classic--Dick Briefer's New Adventures of Frankenstein. After reading the first two installments of Briefer's legendary series, you can pit Frankenstein's Monster against another horror legend--Herbert West, the Re-Animator, in a new battle scenario for ROLF!: The Rollplaying Game.

ROLF! co-creators L.L. Hundal and Steve Miller traded roles between the two books,  switching from editor to game designer respectively. We're both eager to hear what you think of these latest products, especially since Hundal has another Sally idea for the upcoming Christmas Special--for which we are still taking submissions.

A ROLF! John F. Kennedy Memorial Special

Like the attack on Pearl Harbor and the destruction of the World Trade Center Towers, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy was a shock to the American system and psyche, It's not surprising that the past couple weeks have seen lots of Kennedy coverage and retrospectives.

Never ones to misuse a moment/trend, we at NUELOW Games hereby offers one as well. On this very day,  November 22, fifty years ago President Kennedy was assassinated by a pathetic little monkey named Lee Harvey Oswald. Oswald was himself assassinated two days later, bringing about the events we relate below.

ROLF!: JOHN F. KENNEDY vs. LEE HARVEY OSWALD

Design: Steve Miller - Editing: L.L Hundal

Copyright Steve Miller 2013

(permission granted to copy for personal gaming use)

This is a simple battle scenario for two players that uses the Houseboat on the River Styx and The Associated Shades of Hades setting as its starting point. (Well, the deaths of President Kennedy and his assassin are the starting points, but the world of Houseboat is what lets them meet.

BACKSTORY

"Wait... what happened?"

   Lee Harvey Oswald, Soviet Dupe (although he himself considered himself a soldier in the international army of partisans fighting for the freedom of the oppressed and downtrodden), looked around, confused. One moment, he had been with police and other running dog capitalist lackeys, the next he was laying in the bottom of a gently rocking small boat, There was a little water in it, and his ass was wet.

   "You're crossing the River Styx, my good man," 

   Oswald sat up and looked at the hooded figure at the boat;s stern. It was a small man in a hooded cloak, operating an outboard motor that put-putted far more softly than he would have expected. The man's face couldn't quite be made out in the deep shadows of the hood, but his eyes glittered and his teeth shone as he smiled and told Lee, "There's someone on the shore who really wants to meet you."

   "I don't know what's going on, but you need to get me to a payphone." Harvey looked around. The boat was moving across inky black water that was as smooth as glass. The craft was bound tightly by a fog so heavy that the boat's wake could barely be seen and no land was visible in any direction.

   "Not one for reading, eh?" the boatman said with a hint of condemnation in his voice. "If you were, you'd know what the River Styx was. Pick up that manual on the seat there. I'll give you your bearings."

   Oswald's gaze turned to the point indicated by the old man's bony finger and saw a booklet with what appeared to be Adam and Eve on the cover titled So You're Dead--Now What?: A Newcomer's Guide to Hades.

   "What the hell are you playing at?" Oswald shouted, getting to his feet.

   "It's personalized service," the boatman replied. "Mostly because bloody Captain Ahab thought he saw the White Whale and ran the usual ferry aground trying to chase it, but also because John wanted to make sure he knew exactly where you'd arrive so he could get to know you."

   "Turn his boat around, or I'll kill you." Harvey growled.

   "All-ashore who're going ashore," the boatman replied. The sudden jolt of the boat running aground toppled Harvey and sent him tumbling through the air. He landed hard in the tall grass on the riverbank. "Mr. Kennedy, meet Mr. Oswald."

   Oswald's head was spinning from the impact and as he looked up, he saw an impossible figure looming over him--the broad-shouldered shape of John F. Kennedy--the man he had assassinated two days prior.

   "So you're the coward who shot me," Kennedy grumbled, pulling Oswald to his feet. "Let's see how tough you are face-to-face."

   "No. Wait. This can't be happening!"

   And that's when Oswald noticed that Kennedy had a big knife and a machine gun slung over his shoulder.

  "But it is," Kennedy replied. "On behalf of the Associated Shades of Hades, let me welcome you to the Afterlife with a richly deserved ass-kicking.

PRE-GENERATED CHARACTERS

These characters are made using a few Traits and Battle Maneuvers not found in the main ROLF! bookbook. They are in the ROLF!: Dead Presidents supplement. (If this had been an actual product, we would have provided them along with the characters.)

JOHN F. KENNEDY (Male) 
Brawn: 28; Body: 18; Brains: 8
    Traits: Egomaniac, Limousine Liberal
    Combat Maneuvers: Basic Attack, Disarm, Debate Philosophy, Knock Out, Seduction, Strike Pose,
Run Away!, Walk and Chew Gum
    Important Stuff Worn/Wielded: Combat Knife (Small Melee Weapon. Deals 2 points of dmg). Machine Gun (Medium Ranged Weapon. Deals 3 points of dmg. Ignores Armor.).

LEE HARVEY OSWALD (Male... sort of)
Brawn is 19; Body 10; Brains 4.
    Traits: Coldhearted, Dead-Eye, Dumb
    Combat Maneuvers: Basic Attack, Disarm, Dodge, Run Away!.
    Important Stuff Worn/Wielded:, Bayonet (Small Melee Weapon. 2 points of dmg.). Sniper Rifle
(Medium Ranged Weapon. 3 points of dmg. Ignores Armor.)

THE BATTLE SCENARIO
Kennedy and Oswald fight until one or the other is defeated. Then they can fight again the next day.

An Index of Houseboat on the River Styx ROLF! products:

The Associated Shades of Hades

Playwrights and Piledrivers

Serenade for Sirens in G Major

Dead Presidents

Want to contribute to the 2013 NUELOW Christmas Special?

It's the time of year when we turn our minds to our annual Christmas product. L.L. Hundal is working on a ROLF! battle scenario titled "Revenge of Santos" (or maybe "Return of Santos"... she's debating), but other than that we have no idea yet what else we're doing this year.

And this is where YOU have a chance to become a published writer or RPG designer (which is half a step above self-published).

The NUELOW Christmas Special needs YOUR submission of new ROLF! rules, characters, and battle scenarios, OGL d20 or OpenD6 material, comic strips, poems... so long as it's Christmas-y and a bit weird or funny, we're interested in it. Submissions are open until Monday, December 9.

Send us your contribution! Be an object of admiration for the dozens upon dozens of NUELOW Games fans out there.

Here are the official submissions guidelines:

1. Send your original creations as attachments or in the body of emails to stevemillermail@gmail.com. Text submissions must be a maximum 500 words in length. Cartoons and other graphics must be in jpg format. NUELOW Games is willing to review brief proposals to see if we like the idea before you execute it. NUELOW Games reserves the right to reject your completed submission even if we approved a proposal. By agreeing to review proposals and submissions, NUELOW Games is not establishing or implying any obligation between the submitter and itself.

2. All accepted submissions will be published under the Open Game License, except for elements that NUELOW Games chooses to define as Product Identity, and material for the ROLF! game. When your submission is accepted, you assign the copyright of your creation to NUELOW Games in exchange for a byline, a free copy of "Christmas Extravaganza," and a free copy of one other NUELOW Games product of your choice. (If any part of your creation is revised and used in future releases, you will also receive a byline.)

3. Payment will be made upon the release of "Christmas Special" depending on whether you have notified NUELOW Games as to your choice of free product.

4. All decisions by NUELOW Games staff are final.

(We hope to get submissions... it would be nice to get some new blood in our products!)

d20 Supers (Part One)

I have an idea for superpower mechanics for use with OGL Modern and other d20 OGL systems. It uses the feats and skill tree system. Here's the starting point... characters who possess one or more of these feats each representing the weakest manifestation of traditional comic book superpowers, will then be able to pick "Superpower Talent Trees" (perhaps not the best name... but they're talent trees that give access to increasimgly strong powers),

The Superpower Talent Trees will follow in a bit.

Feel free to sound off on the feats and the idea in general. That's what the comments section is for after all. (These feats are published under the Open Game License and may be reproduced according to the terms described here. Copyright 2013 Steve Miller.)

A NEW SYSTEM FOR SUPERPOWERS IN OGL MODERN AND MORE

(Part One)

THE FEATS

Minor Power: Flight

You are able to “leap tall buildings in a single bound.”
   Benefit: You can fly (Perfect) up to 250 feet vertically, or 100 feet in horizontally. If you plummet after reaching your maximum altitude vertically, you will suffer falling damage.

   Special: This feat is a prerequisite for the Superpowers Talent Trees.

Minor Power: Invulnerability

Sticks and stones DON'T break your bones.
   Benefit: Damage from blunt, piercing, and slashing weapons is reduced by 2 points. You gain a +4 bonus to rolls made to resist or reduce damage from acid, cold, electricity, heat, and falling.

   Special: This feat is a prerequisite for the Superpowers Talent Trees.

Minor Power: Speed

You move quicker than normal people.
   Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus to all initiative rolls. The character can also move up to 60 ft. in a round without suffering penalties to Move Silently or Hide skill checks.
   Special: This feat is a prerequisite for the Superpowers Talent Trees

Minor Power: Strength
You are a physical powerhouse.
   Benefit: The character’s Strength and Constitution attributes increase by 3 when this feat is chosen.

   Special: This feat is a prerequisite for the Superpower Talent Trees.       

'Science Sleuths #4' brings four different series under one cover

The fourth issue of Science Sleuths is our most varied yet. It brings four different strips from the Golden Age of comics, with regular features "Jill Trent, Science Sleuth" and "Rocketman" being joined by the cross-time adventures of Ace Buckley and paranormal expert Armand Broussard, the Werewolf Hunter. And it's all behind a killer cover by Gus Ricca.

In addition to the comics, which are brimming with roleplaying game scenario ideas, Science Sleuths #4 contains matieral for use with OGL Modern (or any d20 System game that could benefit from a handful of gadget, and NUELOW's flagship game, ROLF!

Click here to see previews or to get your own copy of this great anthology.