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Overview

Guy from Earth

An off-shoot of the Lackey concept, at least as far as it concerns using the Guy character. The difference is that the "from Earth" sobriquet encourages a more planetary approach, and spins the yarn into the fabric of the Sword and Planet genre. Interestingly, it would also appear to encourage a greater resemblance to Vance, as with the wanderer discovering strange places, customs, adventures.

Hero as Agent

One possibility is the idea that Guy steps, irresponsibly but intentionally, into the conveyance that transfers an agent from Earth to the alien destination, advertently assuming the role. He thus replaces the usual highly qualified, competent, well-trained and experienced hero of such tales with someone quite ordinary. His reasoning: If the other guy was all-that, how'd he let a schmuck like Guy get the better of him?

Some influences

Sword and Planet

The first step: Construct a solar system --here or far distant-- in which our hero would roam. Brackett's Skaith might be a useful starting point for research, although Vance might be a better source of inspiration. Also look into fan versions of the Firefly system.

Settings

Labyrinths and Laboratories

This would probably also spell the end of the Lab Rats idea --not that it would matter, considering I'm not going to be developing any other stories. But the labyrinths do fit well with the sword and planet genre.

  • The book The Maze Runner is built around a concept similar to what you have for the Labyrinths.

Worlds of the Elder|Eldritch Sun

This concept takes our solar system and re-imagines it as a fantasy setting. The idea being that more of Goetia's concepts would transfer over. Mercury the home of a Janus-type pyro/cryo-mancer; Venus goes to the Hyades (floating islands above fiery inferno, with each sorceress trying to establish "gardens"); Earth under the protection of Selene; Mars is a bit of Barsoom and the old west, with the two lords of the two moons holding sway. Asteroid belt is the home of the dwarves, supposedly, but really mostly home to those seeking to exploit them. Saturn or Jupiter would be the hub of the system, with most domains on the moons, and something solaris-like going on with the planet. Actually, Saturn might be home to the eldritch beasts or something more Lovecraftian. Neptune would be home of Oceanos, the Magos other-entity. Uranus/Ouranos is a new one: Sky. Jupiter AKA Zeus should be the Magos itself, enshrouded with aether and beneath that, the nether.

  • ALT - Other Solar System: More room to invent, while still harking back to our system and the Goetia/Myriad/Magos idea
    • Does it put a crimp in the Guy-from-Earth concept? Does it harsh its buzz or cramp its style?
  • Saturn/Kronos/R'yleh does not orbit. It sits and spins.
    • ALT: [Magos | Goetia | Source] is both source of magic, and home to the elder beings who assail it, thus keeping everyone else at bay. More sense as planet that does not orbit.

Dying Goetia

The biggest question is whether or not to gut Goetia to build this new story. The most likely casualty of such an endeavor would be the underlings, although I can picture ways in which they might survive.

  • Gutting It: It's an [invasion by | parallel Solar system created by] Goetia
    • Key to this: The World Before replaced by Phantasms; a combination of Mythago Wood and Titan/Wizard
  • Underlings survive easily; their physical appearance transforming from "street urchin" to halfling or pygmy
  • Dwarves are the mole-men of mars.

Ur-Space

Keep your filthy hands off of Goetia, you damn dirty ape. Instead you pull from the other half of the trope spectrum, pulp sci-fi, post-apocalypse, and of course, sword and planet fiction. No wizards, but Mesmers and Masterminds. More Mad Max and Fallout, Thundarr and Kamandi, Burroughs and Brackett.

Planet X

Entity that is being assailed by other "eldritch" beings. A smattering of Cthulu mythos mixed with Varley's Titan.

Notes

  • RE stands for Reality Elided; Un-space, Un-place; Underspace
  • Phantom Space; Ur-space;
  • Quondam: adj. former, from a previous time
  • Sentient planets or is that too much overlap?
    • Mankind banished from earth long ago, and now locked out [for the sin of allying with Kronos against Zeus? Zeus as Onsundran?]. Earth as treasure planet.
    • Does it matter? Reminder: You will probably never do anything with this, or anything else. Crib at will from any idea you've ever had.

The idea being that there's an undercurrent to reality that's interfering with what happens here. Or perhaps an Ur-reality, a primal reality before it became weighted down by the laws of physics; a mytho-sphere, from which we have separated but which haunts us still.

Rite of Passage

  • Passage; Tunnel; Hole
This takes the Labyrinth and turns it into a passage, as in "rite of..." but also as in a way into this other reality. Those trapped within, stymied from moving forward, refer to them as Holes. Only later do they hear the stories that claim these passages are the labyrinths of legend --the forge of heroes.
Horizon Events are a possible ultimate Macguffin, a space-time anomaly that heralds or instigates the appearance of a passage. When the Earth door closes, the next passage opens, perhaps.

Foes

  • Overlords
    • Tyrants/Barons
  • Masterminds
    • Mad Scientists
  • Slavers
  • Tyrants/Barons
    • Could even be plunder barons
  • Robots
    • War Horror
  • Creatures
  • Gangs
  • Cults, particularly priests
  • Bandits/Criminals
  • Mutants

Big Bad

The over-arching plot would deal with the planet where Cthulhu (or its stunt double) lies dreaming. No tunnels lead there, no engine will go there, no rocket has survived the trip. The first villain to crack the code wins. It's the nuclear bomb technology of this reality.

  • Worth noting that this idea works best with an alien star system

Elements

  • Labyrinths
    • Holes; Passages
The source of our heroes training. Labyrinths are complexes of mysterious origin that take in clueless aspirants and spit out puissant heroes.
  • Tunnels

How do you get to other planets? You walk. The tunnels are worm-hole like anomalies that connect the worlds. All tunnels might originate from Saturn/Jupiter. Tunnel length has little to do with distance and more to do with resistance. Some worlds like us not.

  • Engines
What if you don't want to walk? You take your chances with one of the Engines. Vehicles of unknown origin that allow passengers but go where they will, and not where you want.
  • Rockets
Alternately you can try your luck with the various home-built rockets that various individuals have constructed. The least reliable form of transportation.

Gear

Swords

  • Étrangère
    • French saber from 19th c. with "étrangère" inscribed on the back side of the blade; a relic of an adventurer from the French Foreign Legion. Guy's sword.
    • The sword-in-a-can might be ceramic or bakelite; against which the steel sword would have a distinct advantage.
    • Alternately, the sword blade might be discovered to be a special alloy of unknown origin
  • Sabers, sans light
  • Lightsabers
    • Lance; Slash; Gash; Brand; Blade; Edge
    • Gash-can; Brandish; Sheath; Scar, Scabbard

Sword-in-a-can. Individuals who have come through a labyrinth emerge with a sword-like object, a hilt attached to a device that can produce a variety of different blades. Except for Guy. Who might have cheated on the last little bit and not received the sword-reward.

Jump Packs

  • Jump coil

Harness that has a small plate on the back, resembling a flattened coil. Plate must "rewind" or "spool" between jumps.

Shield

  • Aegis

The front of the harness contains a pendant that acts as a shield. These might be very rare and highly sought after.

Plot

Major

  • Reach Planet X --and destroy it.
There's been a disturbance in the ur-reality that threatens to upset the laws that govern the universe. It will be discovered that the disturbance has been caused by a rogue planet, Planet X, whose origin and intent remains a mystery. But how to get there? It's up to the denizens of Ur-space, and the lone Earthman Guy, to figure it out. The journey will take him from Mars, to Venus, to the moons of Jupiter and Saturn and beyond.

Openings

  • Begin with a list of imminent expeditions: a US covert op; an India-based scientific expedition, etc. Last we come to two stoned dudes stumbling around the woods outside of Sheboygan, Wisconsin. One dude is explaining to the other exactly what they are looking for and how he knows about it, etc. First discovered by the [local native americans], studied by [local scientist], promptly forgotten by everybody but re-discovered by crazy astro-physics major, yours truly. Dude realizes he's talking to himself, and has a paranoid episode during which he convinces himself that the other dude was never there. Still wishes he had asked the dudes name though.


The Practicalities

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