| This is Classic material. Some conversion will be needed to use with 4e, some of which may have been done for you. |
Atomic Horror 2nd printing
Classic Atomic horror (1993, 2001) is roleplaying in the "B" movies of the 1950's and settings inspired by them.
Background[]
While the 1950s is thought to only go from 1950-1959 culturally it can be said to run from the explosion of the atomic bomb in 1945 to the John F. Kennedy assassination of late 1963. "However, the definitive years for Atomic Horror are probably the long, tense peace from the end of the Korean War in 1953 to the escalation of the Vietnam conflict in 1964."
Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) sightings were so common in this era that a program called Project Blue Book to investigate these reports was created.
The Theoretical Science Foundation[]
A fictional origination called the Theoretical Science Foundation is provided to stand-in for the FBI. The section is a mixture of fact and fiction with the satirical comment "...and possibly the L.A. Times are creations of fiction. Any similarity to actual persons or organizations is purely coincidental . . ."
The Real History of Earth[]
A largely fictional timeline is provided to rationalize the ancient reports of UFOs, and to put the alien races provided in historical perspective. The TLs given are from GURPS Classic and will have to be adjusted for 4e.
Races[]
- Arendians (stats provided in GURPS Horror)
- Loi
- Metaran; Metarus (Planet)
- Alphans
- The Vortun
The neighbors[]
Note: This is how these locations tended to be portrayed in film and story not how actual scientists of the time viewed them.
The Moon has been used as observation post by all the alien races above. Not all of the bases were striped of their equipment when the aliens left.
Mars is a nearly dead world. The Martians themselves died out 5 million years ago leaving behind only their canals, the remains of their civilization, and a handful of species that can live in on the dry planet.
Venus is a jungle planet inhabited by a colony of Loi mutants and the humana who once lived in Atlantis founded around 12,000 BCE. Their leader, Irinda, effectively locked the colony at TL3 and after 7,500 years disappeared. The matriarchal government she had set up quickly became tyrannical and intolerant even of its own male population which resulted in violence. Around 500 CE males were expelled from the city with men and women meeting only to mate.
Venusian technology started to degrade until in the 1950s it is TL0-1. Males similarly degraded becoming strong and brutish. Males kept in the city are so poor breeding stock that raids into the jungles for males in the wilderness are common. Due to the heat and humidity of Venus the inhabitants wear little to no clothing.
Titan is about the same size as the Earth with its own life. In the real world it is only about 1.5 times the radius of Earth's moon or about 40% that of Earth.[1]
Additional Material and Information[]
- GURPS Update
- Fallout
- GURPS WWII
- GURPS WWII: Weird War II
- Weapons of World War II (1925 to 1945)
- Weapons of 1950 to 2000
- Timeline of the Atomic Age (atomic archive)
- The 1950's comic book moral panic
- The Supersizers Eat...The Fifties (UK): Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. and 6
- Hidden Killers of the Postwar Home (Absolute History)
- 10 Craziest CIA Covert Operations
- Official Denial: 1993 movie where the aliens are humans from Earth's future
- Transhuman Aliens (TV tropes)
- Project U.F.O.: 1978 to 1979 NBC series very loosely based on Project Blue Book (March 1952 - December 17, 1969). Can be mined for ideas
- Listings produced searching for "Project Blue Book" on official HISTORY Channel YouTube channel
- How Pink Was Once A Boy Color
- Vintage Forever (2019). RDA Enthusiast Brands, LLC. ISBN: 978-1-61765-915-7
After the Atomic Horror Era[]
Adventures[]
- Skull Valley (9/17/1999)
- Frogmen of Helton: An Atomic Horror Adventure (10/5/2001)
- Circle Of Fear: Part I (12/28/2001) and Part II (01/04/2002)
Psudosong of the time[]
This is based on a song in Texas Monthly Nov 1982 pg 272 and fits the early view of space flight. Only the last line is changed.
- We are the rocketeers
- We are the pioneers
- We are the Engineers
- The Biggest bunch of crazies
- Who ever launched men into the Stratospheres
Different Solar system[]
SCPs[]
- SCP-1692 (Came Back Haunted) — Replacement of people that go through it.
- SCP-095-FR (The Demon Core) — SCP version of the real world Demon core
Strange theories[]
The Moon Revealed: It's a Hollow Spaceship, so who built it and why?