05/18/2025
Atomic Shadows + Shadowdark RPG = 80s Cartoon Chaos!
It was one of my player’s birthday but not everyone could show up to the session. I decided to run a one shot… with a twist. Combining Atomic Shadows and ShadowDark RPG rules to run a “Thundarr the Barbarian” adventure. I have always been a fan of the old 80s cartoons like Thundarr the Barbarian, He-Man/She-Ra, and especially Thundercats. A quick google search led me to a free “World of Thundarr the Barbarian Sourcebook” that was written for Mutant Future.
I did a quick glance through the PDF and came across some episode adventures at the end. I chose “The Wizard’s Graveyard” as I actually remember that episode and adapted it slightly using creature stats from my Atomic Shadows book.
The player were asked to create a 6th level character using a mix of Atomic Shadows and/or ShadowDark RPG rules. The only stipulation was that no spell caster could use mutations gained from levelling up, only base Ancestry mutations.
The Cast:
Flyn Flannigan is a Dwarf Bard with a bedazzled coat of “Glitterbomb” and bracers of infinite guitar picks (used like throwing stars).
B.B. is a Mutated Bear Barbarian (mutations: Armoured Skin II, Bio Control I) who wields a rainbow sword - each round she rolled a d4 to determine the extra energy damage from fire (red), frost (blue), acid (green), or electric (yellow).
Koala is a Mutated Human Monk (mutations: Armoured Skin I, Cryokinesis II, Elemental Breath I, and Teleport I). His blue skin and icy scales gave him an Iceman vibe so we flavoured his teleport ability to be an ice slide that melted behind him.
Giovanni Gamera is a Mutated Turtle Monk (mutations: Armoured Skin I (shell), Transform II, Wall Walker I, Scent I). He rode a skateboard, always had a slice of pizza in one hand and an “ice cube pistol” in the other.
Together this was 80s cartoon awesomeness!
The adventure itself was simple, rescue the villagers from an incorporeal wizard that wanted to control the rocket missile located in the ancient museum the village was built around. This was the old Smithsonian Museum and there were many relics of the past there. The villagers were being gathered up by centaur-like crocodile creatures (I used Dreadscales statsmic Shadows) while the wizard looked on from overhead in silence as a spectral ghost.
After the fight (which was quite a close call) the wizard threatened to destroy the village at sunset and disappeared. The party was instructed by the village elder that the only way to defeat the wizard was to use flames from the “Fires of Forever” which is located an hour away at the Wizard’s Graveyard (Arlington Cemetery).
The party mounted up and made their way there with haste. After fighting several Arachnigeese (from Atomic Shadows) they lit their torches in the Fire fountain and headed back but they realize they will be too late as the sun is setting. One of the villagers came flying in on an old Wright Brothers flying machine to get the PCs back in time. However on route, three Carrocs riding giant bats attack with laser rifles. The PCs made short work of them by attacking the bats instead of the Carrocs.
Just as they arrived to the village they see the wizard in front of the Lincoln Memorial Statue and pass into it. The 50 foot tall statue comes to life and attacks the party. Three party members jump out of the plane, but only two actually land on it, the third lying unmoving on the ground. The bard had the plane land and went to heal his fallen comrade. The battle was tough, I ruled that any flame damage to the eyes was doubled but the armour class of the statue was high (AC20). Many characters fell in the fight, and the bard was busy with healing and singing inspiration (luck tokens).
Once the statue was defeated, the wizard’s spirit dissolved in an agonizing scream into the ether. The villagers gathered around and sang the character’s praises. Much feasting was had, and of course cake - after all it was the bard’s birthday!
The players had a blast and so did it. I loved the episodic nature of the adventure and think using the rules is this way would make a fun “West Marches/Saturday Morning Cartoon” style play.
On a side note - we used the “Saturday Morning Cartoon Rule” where there are no deaths in the game. Bad guys either disappear in a flash of light, or run away. Player Characters are out of action for as long as their death timer lasts and come back at 1hp. In this case, a positive CON mod would take away the time (min 1), and a negative CON mod would add to it. And naturally exploding dice made this whole adventure extremely chaotic!
I highly recommend you travel back to when you were young and relive some cartoon fun - even for just a one-shot!
Happy Gaming!
Raflar
Gamemaster at Wallhalla Games!
