New Picture: White Apes of Barsoom!

Entertainment Weekly has a fresh interview with director Andrew Stanton and the latest photos from the John Carter of Mars flick. Then theres this little tidbit from the article [SPOILERS, if you've not read the books], in which Stanton explains that the Tharks chain down Carter to keep him from low-grav jumping his way to freedom in a gladitorial arena. Stanton explains Carter's dilemma, but he leaks a little info about the beast itself (emphasis mine):

AS: There’s a subtle sense of anticipation for what these things might be like. Then Michael Kutsche — who did a lot of the designs on [the Johnny Depp movie] Alice in Wonderland – came up with this design on his own, for just their scale. He made them nocturnal, almost like moles — they stopped using their eyes, and just had a heightened sense of smell. We just love that. We needed a scene where Carter was going have to get out of his execution sentence in order to move the story forward, and we thought what better than having to go up against this formidable creature?

...and later...

EW: I’m sure John Carter is thinking right now, “This is a really interesting problem.”
AS: [Chuckles.] Right. And you’ve got these apes that can’t see, but they can smell really well. So it gives you a slight chance to not be killed immediately.

It's been a while since I read the books, but I don't recall the apes being blind.

Am I wrong? What do you think about the way this is playing out?

TONIGHT: You can't hide from the Intergalactic Nemesis!

This evening I'll be at the Heights Theater in Minneapolis to see Intergalactic Nemesis, a LIVE radio show-like performance mashed-up with pulp comic imagery. From their website:

The Intergalactic Nemesis is a one-of-a-kind theatrical experience that mashes up radio drama with comic-books. Three actors voice dozens of characters; one Foley artist creates hundreds of sound effects; one keyboardist performs a score of thousands (yes, thousands!) of notes; while on a two-story high screen we project more than 1,250 individual, full-color, hand-drawn, hi-res, blow-your-mind comic book images to tell the story visually. LIVE.

Inspired by Raiders of the Lost Ark, Star Wars, and the pulp serials of the 1930s, The Intergalactic Nemesis is a spectacle unlike any other and it’s for the kid in everyone.

If you're local and can make it (show starts at 7pm) it looks like quite a lot of fun. Pack your ray gun and come!

Check the tour schedule to see if the Nemesis is coming to obliterate your hometown.

Then this one time, Batman and Space Ghost teamed up...

I'm seriously going to miss this show.

Props to ToplessRobot.com And yes, I'm shamelessly ripping of the headline too. Awesome things must always be paid forward.

Expendables: where are the space hirelings? 1d30

So older versions of D&D have hirelings--hired labor/meatshield minions who are the first line of fodder in any exploration or combat scenario. But what are the sci-fi equivelents? Red shirts, are surely at the top of that list. But it got me thinking, a few possibilities about some sci-fi versions of these para-PCs. Here's my d30 "chump chart":

"Put Johnson down and get back to work you lazy tribble-biters!"

1. Men-at-blaster-arms
2. Force screen operators
3. Pack beast wranglers
4. Computer bank switch expert
5. Load-lifter pilot
6. Ray rifle carrier (doesn't actually get to shoot it though)
7. Jefferiesweeps (guys with circular brooms who clean the jefferies tubes on starships)
8. Short order food replicator chef
9. Hoversled / moon buggy driver
10. Robot assembler
11. Sliding door repairman
12. Guys who pull bodies off the battlefield
13. Bulkhead repair crew
14. Boarding party welcoming committee
15. Teleporter repair guinea pig
16. Droid cleaner / enslaver
17. Sensor-corder knob turner
18. Jump gate / super laser lever puller
19. Zookatube rear-fueling technician
20. iPad holding cruise bureaucrat
21. All-purpose space-grease monkey
22. Space janitor
23. Scanning crew guy
24. Xenolinguistics intern
25. Space caddy
26. Laser sword inspector (other end, genius!)
27. Medical assistant
28. Door greeter
29. Galaxy's "most feared" bail bondsman
30. Anyone in engineering

Here's a list of gear for your laser fodder, give each crew member just one item. This is d30 as well, but this way you can roll the item and work-up your crew in reverse.

1. Sonic drill
2. Big magnet on a little crane
3. Laser or sonic rifle
4. Hoversled
5. Macroscope

   

   "Dad's home! I hear the garage door!"

6. Atomic reactor service pack (full radiation suit, radiation badge, multitool, graphing calculator)
7. Starfighter service pack (hydrospanner, plasma torch, face shield, cigar) 
8. Robot service pack (hydrospanner, oil can, data card, restriction bolt)
9. Rocket boots
10. Force screen groundstake emitter
11. Sensor-corder
12. Circular space broom
13. Blasting caps
14. Mop bucket
15. Dyson Vacuum of Space, Space Vacuum™
16. Medical wand
17. Hypo-stim packs (set of 2)
18. Portable energizer
19. Tripod with screw-on top
20. Hyperdrive fuel can
21. Load-lifter
22. Malfunctioning translator
23. Meal trays
24. Case of dueling ray pistols
25. Inflatable moon tent
26. Radar dish helmet
27. Beast saddle
28. Tranquilizers
29. Clipboard
30. Coffin

Anything else that should be on the list?

Exiled Jedi Vocational Readjustment (1d20)

I recently found some old notes I had on post-Jedi job opportunities--in other words, what do Jedi do when there's no proper temple or organization for the Order. If you've ever played the 2E version of West End Games' Star Wars RPG, they had a character template for a "failed Jedi". This was ostensibly any Jedi who survived The Purge and went on to choose a new line of work, be it paid or hobo.

So here's a list to get the ball rolling (literally, it's a random table of course!). Keep in mind, that any Jedi in hiding in plain view needs to remain so and if their powers come in to play they need to be able to explain their powers away as "tricks":

1. Psychic / Fortune Teller
2. Street Magician
3. Private Detective (a la Psych or The Mentalist, but with real powers)
4. Investigative Journalist
5. Gangsters / Smuggler / Street Informant
6. Physician / Veterinarian / Horticulturist (for those specializing in healing Force powers)
7. Archivist / Librarian
8. Alien Artifact Expert
9. Ghost Catcher / Exorcist
10. Homeless / Hermit
11. Beast Whisperer
12. Circus Freak
13. Psychiatrist / Svengali 
14. Gambler / Grifter / Stock Broker
15. Politician (after elective surgery to disguise oneself)
16. Sports Star (ditto)
17. University Professor
18. Combat Trainer
19. Ruler of a Primitive Society
20. Night Club Bouncer

Common sense dictates that many of these can be combined. And it should go without saying that they no longer need to stay completely on the light side of the Force. Once they're unemployed, their ethics are in a state of flux.

This also could just as easily work for any other RPG setting using psionicist, but I especially like the notion of a disbanded society of psionic ronin looking for purpose after The Fall.

Can you think of any others? I'll add them to the list.