Planet of Fear: A Savaged Pulp Serial
| Planet of Fear is a Savage Pulp Serial in the classic planetary romance tradition. The serial is intended for new Savage Worlds normal human characters from a semi-historical to near-future setting. The setting uses rules from the Savage Pulp and Necessary Evil Savage Worlds resources, as well as those developed by the author. |
Summary
Having few resources and skills other than “Action!” the heroes are thrust into a strange world and develop strange powers they do not understand. Under the guidance of a mysterious entity known as the Mindhead, the heroes brave the mauve twilight planet of Fhere and the Great Reaches of the Vril Empire in a desperate bid to come home. With allies strange and unlikely, the heroes explore their new world, fight evil minions of the Vril, and lead a planetary revolt, before finally finding a gate that takes them home.
Background
The heroes begin as normal Joes responding to a free vacation offer on the South Sea island of Tinian. Little do they know that their lives are about to change forever.
What's Really Going On?
A strange entity known as Mindhead travels the dimensions searching for sources of cosmitronic energy. Though it’s unknown how Mindhead uses this energy, the entity has lured many unwary souls into strange deals whereby their lives are forfeit unless they seek out sources of cosmitronic energy, essentially acting as unwilling surveyors on other planets and other dimensions.
Though cosmitronic energy has no known use, what is known is the effect it has on humans: The temporary manifestation of otherworldly powers initially accompanied by incapacitating headaches. As such, the effects of cosmitronic energy are often blamed on lack of oxygen to the brain which, in turn causes complex auditory and visual hallucinations.
Mindhead sends the heroes to the planet Fhere, far away in spacetime. Here they are tasked with finding a strong source of cosmitronic energy detected by Mindheads minions eons ago.
Since that time, Fhere has undergone major political changes. Once a semi-arid world populated by semi-intelligent rat-like humanoids, it has since been conquered by the Great Reaches of the Vril Empire, a voracious and degenerate race of creatures bent on subjugating the universe and bending all intelligent life to its will. The natives of Fhere, sometimes called the Rat Lords, have evolved their own methods for fighting the Vril, and still wage war on the planet’s overlords on occasion, though they spend much of their time lurking in their warrens experimenting on their own kind and any living thing that happens into their clutches.
Encircled by the battlemoons of the Vril, Fhere is a volatile crucible where the heroes will undertake the insurmountable task of bringing Mindhead his cosmitronic energy source while staying alive long enough to get home.
The characters, normal humans on vacation, fall prey to a natural disaster that traps them beneath a hotel. Here they struggle to find a way out, fighting the elements of the disaster: flaming gas jets, flooding water, poisonous chemicals in the air, and collapsing debris. Clearing a passage they think leads to the surface leads them into the secret underground facility of the Mindhead, a super-intelligence from another dimension. Mindhead’s facility is damaged and the leaking cosmitronic energy incapacitates them, leaving them on death’s door.
Scene 1 - Holiday in Hell
In which the characters get a free trip that’s more than they bargained for…
Scene 2 – Vault of the Mindhead
In which the characters meet their new boss…
Scene 3 – The Plains of Fhere
In which the characters awaken to a new day…and a new planet…
On the mauve-dusted twilight planet watched over by the massive battlemoons of the Great Reaches of the Majestic V’ril Empire, the heroes and their new arachno-men allies are harried by Vril overseers. The heroes find that they have strange new powers and amazing abilities. Fighting on the run, the heroes finally take refuge in the enclave of the arachno-men, where they find a new enemy waiting.
Scene 1 – Friends of the Arachno-men
In which the characters become embroiled in the politics of their new home…
Scene 2 – Run, Run for your Life!
In which the characters run, run for their lives…
Scene 3 – Deep Cover
In which the characters find brief solace…and a new enemy…
Episode 3: Against the Rat Lords
Arriving safely at the enclave, the heroes find that the Rat-Lords, massive bipedal rodents with bionetic technology are raiding the place. Defeating the first small army of Rat-Lords and freeing the arachno-enclave wins them the friendship of the arachno-men and the undying enmity of the Rat-Lords. But, can they take the fight to the rat lords, survive, and even win the alien creatures to their cause?
Scene 1 – Three Blind Mice
In which the characters save the arachno-men…again
Scene 2 – Warren of Fear
In which the characters take the fight to the enemy…
Scene 3 – The Forge of War
In which the characters decide whether rats can be trusted…
Episode 4: Comes the Eternity
Finally able to rest and take account of their surroundings, the heroes determine that they have been infused with amazing powers by the cosmitronic energy and dimensional shift to the planet of Fhere. They also meet a group of other heroes, from the far reaches of space, including a mysterious woman who claims to be from Earth. One of these newcomers claims that a starship crashed not too far away and contains clues and technology that could assist leaving the planet. But first, the heroes must face the Starburned Plains and four uncanny tests. As the ‘’Eternity’’ lifts off with the hopeful heroes inside, the Vril arrive with other plans.
Scene 1 - Seeds of Hope
In which the characters decide whether they want to leave…
Scene 2 - Tests of the Starburned Plains
In which the characters prove their worth…again.
Scene 3 - Fall Eternity
In which the characters almost get off the island
Episode 5: In the Chains of the Overseers
In the slave pits of the Ur Battlemoon, the heroes must fight their way through the brackets where they come to the attention of an unlikely ally, a Vril princess with ambitions of her own. With her assistance and a bit of luck, the heroes lead a massive revolt which takes down the battlemoon and leaves them in control of their fate once again.
Scene 1: Ooze it Ur Lose it
In which the characters fight, fight for their lives…
Scene 2: Princess of the Battlemoon
In which the characters are sold to the highest bidder…
Scene 3: Last Stand of the Centurions
In which the characters lead a revolt of epic proportions…
Episode 6: End of the Great Game
Out of their shackles, the characters lead a massive battle that will decide the fate of Ur and the Great Reaches of the Vril Empire. With the assistance of the arachno-men, the rat lords, a ragtag group of outsiders, and a Vril noble, the characters fight their way across the Starburned Plains to the capital of the Vril Empire and the gate that will take them home…
Scene 1: War on the Starburned Plains
In which the characters lead a war on the Starburned Plains…
Scene 2: Fall of the Far Reaches
In which the characters take the king…
Scene 3: Gate to Nowhere
In which the characters go home and settle their hotel bill…
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