Crawling Under a Broken Moon #5

Crawling Under a Broken Moon is a Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG fanzine. It includes rules for a post apocalyptic setting. I looked at Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG when it first came out and decided it wasn't what I was looking for. I view any DCC RPG material with an eye for using it under a different game. Intrigued by the fanzine, I decided to pick up issue #5 as it has a He-Man homage.

I'm a fan of He-Man and purchased Cartoon Action Hour for the same reason a long time ago. I'm not that big a fan of parodies so I'm looking for interesting ideas that can be used without running a parody game. He-Man has never felt like a post apocalyptic setting to me but I could see twisting it that way. The cover of the issue didn't wow me and seemed to much of a copy of He-Man. There are several DCC RPG fanzines. All seem to have a similar style to the artwork. Very old school look to them.

The first article demonstrated that the book was probably going to be too much of a parody for me. The people of the kingdom eke out a living while provider for the heroes who protect them. After the short introduction of the kingdom, you have the Aetherian Hero character class. My hope was the class would have suggestions for implementing the action features you see in He-Man. One character might have eyes that bug out allow him to see around corner or another might fly. Instead the class give you a hero naming scheme, an honor code which is more of parody than real honor code, and Aetherian tech which is regular items with gears and wires to make the item appear high tech. Overall the class is not really useful to me.

The Forgotten Tech of the Un Men is a little closer to what I'd like to see. The new items are a little generic to me. They are a blast ray, power harness and power sword. None of them are particularly inspiring.

The villains described in Into the Dark Lands don't fair any better. Blacksun is obviously a parody of Blackstar. Skull-Or doesn't really stand out. The background is a little tragic but doesn't lead you care about the villain.

Castle OldSkull and the Masters of Aetheria has an original take on the purpose of Castle OldSkull. Unfortunately I don't find it particularly useful. If the PCs decide to fight the Castle OldSkull, the article provides nothing as a starting point. The Masters of Aetheria is simply a list of parody He-Man characters. No stats provided.

With my purpose of using the material under a different game and not a parody, Twisted Menagerie is the best article. The article includes two creatures, Serpentoid and Un Men. Both have a lot of variability which is a plus. The monsters are your basic serpent men and robots.

Overall, I'm disappointed with the product. Out of the whole thing, I doubt I would use anything other than the Twisted Menagerie. I was really looking for more original takes and usable in a serious game. Even if you wanted a He-Man parody using DCC RPG, the content might be a little light. A short adventure would have been a useful addition.