Australia is basically a fantasy roleplaying setting come to life. We have devastating floods, fires, droughts and incredible dust storms. We have fantastical animals, many of which are deadly and/or poisonous. Platypus, I’m looking at you. We have deserts, rainforests, snowy mountains and coral reefs. Australia is beautiful, deadly and a great source of inspiration for gamemasters. So, to celebrate Australia Day I’ve collected Australia-related roleplaying links and inspirational links from around the webosphere for your perusal.
In your fantasy game, perhaps the disease drives them even more insane so that they give up their scavenging ways and attack travellers on the roads. Villagers cower in their shacks as they hear the unearthly screams of the diseased devils stalking the outskirts of the town. I’ve actually developed a race of monstrous humanoids called the Retch (singular and plural) which are based on Tasmanian Devils. I’ll update them to Pathfinder RPG stats some time and post them here with crunch, fluff and adventure hooks.
Paizo’s third annual RPG Superstar competition has begun and two Australians have made it into the Top 32 contenders. So, 6% of the finalists are Australian, whereas only 0.3% of the world is Australian. Therefore, we must be awesome 🙂 Best of luck to my fellow Aussies. For those in the Canberra region, be sure to check out CanCon next year (you’ve just missed it this time around) or even Gen Con Oz in Brisbane. I went to the first Gen Con Oz in 2008 and was at the session where an Aussie came up with what Tracey Hickman now calls “The Australian Rule” on page 69 of his X-treme Dungeon Mastery book (while I don’t agree with all of the book’s content, there are some gems in there and it’s a fun read).
Fantasy and science-fiction roleplaying games are often showcases of outlandish environments. Australia is just as amazing with the Devil’s Marbles, Wave Rock, Uluru, the Pinnacles, the Twelve Apostles, Jenolan Caves, the Great Barrier Reef and countless other breathtaking environments.
I’m not sure how popular the 1987 Call of Cthulhu supplement Terror Australis is, but I’ve purchased the PDF and flicked through it. It includes three adventures, several monsters and an interesting mix of historical data and Lovecraftian mythos. Australian roleplaying games are few and far between, so if you’re interested in the concept, this is a good place to start. Besides, Australia and Cthulhu are each crazy and deadly enough that combining them is just awesomeness waiting to happen.
Before I wrap up, I just want to take a moment to recognise that for some, Australia Day is a time for celebrating everything that makes this country great. But for others, it represents the day that the English invaded this country and declared it Terra nullius, displacing the Aboriginal people who had called this land home for over 40,000 years. If you want to find out more about this, start with the Australia Day article on Wikipedia or search Google for “Invasion Day”.
That’s it for this post. I hope it’s been enlightening. Next time you’re looking for a bizarre plant, animal or environment, look to Australia to see if it can fill your needs. If you’re running a game about natural disasters, read up about Australia to see how people have coped in these terrible situations. And if your GM runs a game set in Australia, be sure to keep your eyes on the trees. You never know when the drop bears will strike!
Playing Off the Tracks 