#erick wujcik

[oldschoolfrp]

You want one? They're really good (James Dombrowski art from Mutants of the Yucatan, Erick Wujcik's supplement for After the Bomb, Palladium Books, 1990; as reprinted in Palladium's ad in Dragon 159, July 1990)

[vintagerpg]

I don’t really get Mutants Down Under (1988), like on the level of “Why does this exist?” I am happy it does, because it is probably my favorite in the line, but I don’t understand the series of creative and editorial decisions that made this the third book in the After the Bomb line. This is true of a lot of Palladium publications, though.

I like Australian animals and I think it is hilarious to make them anthropomorphic and give them guns. I am never not gonna be tickled by that. Anyway, in the post-apocalypse, Australian humans and animals live together peacefully, thanks to the Dreamtime (for what its worth, the portrayal of Aboriginal culture in the game is a mix of admiring and exotifying, which doesn’t seem great but could be a whole lot worse. I don’t have the knowledge to evaluate it beyond this. Feel free to educate me). Trouble comes from the north, where militarized humans and water buffalo mutants from Jakarta are launching an invasion.

The Jakartans have weird bio-weapons. There are also lots of airships (like, with balloons) in the book, with a lengthy section on air combat.

But mainly, for me, its about the koalas with guns. Kevin Eastman’s cover it pretty good, but it is James Lawson’s often comically stocky interiors that really sell the whole marsupial warrior thing for me.

Vaguely related: I’ll probably never have another chance to bring this up, but do any of y’all remember the cartoon film Dot and the Kangaroo? It was weirdly inescapable for a moment of my childhood, surprisingly melancholy in my memory of it (though I’ve not seen it in decades) and the bit about the Bunyip spooked the hell out of me.

[oldschoolfrp]

Shadow Knight, Michael Kucharski cover painting, supplement for the Amber Diceless Role-Playing game edited by Erick Wujcik, Phage Press, 1993

[oldschoolfrp]

“Kilroy was here” — In space no one can hear your clone scream (Jim Holloway, Clones in Space, a Paranoia misadventure by Erick Wujcik, West End Games, 1986)

[oldschoolfrp]

Mutants Down Under, Kevin Eastman cover painting for Erick Wujcik’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles RPG sourcebook, Palladium, 1988

[oldschoolfrp]

Swords and Sci-fi (I think this one is by Allen Nunis -- From "A Short History of Amber Diceless Roleplaying Part II," interview with Erick Wujcik by Lester Smith, Journeys magazine 2, October 1992, GDW)

[vintagerpg]

OK, so, After the Bomb is the post-apocalyptic setting from Palladium that uses Erick Wujcik’s mutation system from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles RPG, without totally being a TMNT game (it was a way to have some of the TMNT material they were producing not be contingent on the TMNT license, even though TMNT comic artists contributed quite a bit of art to the line). The main rules detailed the violent struggle between mutant animals and humanity on the East Coast of the US. Road Hogs (1986) details what is going on over on the West Coast.

Here, the human Americorps are the good guys and the bad guys are a reaving army of mutant bikers. Its Mad Max, but with anthropomorphic animals, basically. There are lots of new mutant types, including aquatic animals (whales?) and a lengthy section on vehicles that includes rules for combat and building new rides.    

I can’t honestly judge the new rules because I only have the slightest grasp on the old ones – Palladium’s approach has always baffled me. I will say that Road Hogs never captured my imagination like some of the other books in the line did. Despite how appealing the core idea is when you hear it, there is just not enough material fleshing out the world. It doesn’t come close to measuring up to your hopes.

I like the art though. You can’t go wrong with an Eastman cover. Walter Storozuk’s interiors are fun, sticking to the established vibe of the TMNT books while also not sacrificing his personal style. Love that octopus guy.

[vintagerpg]

Mutants of the Yucatan (1990) is a bit puzzling. Like Road Hogs, it feels a bit under developed. The format is basically the same as the previous books. There are new regional mutant animals and a bit on their tribal organizations (one of which is a bunch of mutant hippies?). There are the humans, this time an expeditionary force from the evil Empire of Humanity (from the After the Bomb book). The book’s military conflict is between them and another empire, the Aztec-esque Obsidian Conquistadors, made up largely of mutant pink flamingos bearing quantum powered technology. They a bunch of tools, so it amounts to one bunch of jerks fighting another bunch of jerks with the nice folks stuck in the middle. 

I dunno, it just never comes together for me. It all seems like a joke that didn’t land. It also seems to trade on stereotypes in a way I don’t enjoy and which wasn’t present in the previous books. 

Kevin Fales’ cover gives me all sorts of Serpent Kingdom feels, though, so at least there is that. Lukewarm on the interiors James Dombrowski – a little too cartoony for my taste, though I do like his mutant bat designs.