To Be Continued

To Be Continued logo

Author: John R. "Buck" Surdu and Christopher Palmer
Publisher: LMW Works
Date Published: 2005
Period: 1930's Movie Serials
Scale: Skirmish
Status: Available through Brigade Games, directly from LMW Works, or Amazon.com.
Notes: Based on G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T.

To Be Continued by G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T. is a game that pits steely-eyed, flint-jawed, barrel-chested, two-fisted, deadeye, tough as woodpecker lips, stud among studs, no kidding, stuff of legends hero type guys against colorful, charismatic, egomaniacal, dastardly, nefarious villains and their mindless minions. Games, called episodes, are linked together to form twelve-episode serials in the tradition of the great movie serials of the 1930s and 1940s or the Pulp movies of the 1950s.

This is something I have wanted to do since Chris and I published Blood and Swash. Since junior high school I have been a sucker for those old movie serials from the 1930's and 1940's. Some of my favorites include:

Zombies of the Stratoshper (with Commando Cody, the proto-Rocketeer)
Radar Men from the Moon (also with Commando Cody)
King of the Rocketmen (also with Commando Cody)
Undersea Kingdom (with Crash Corrigan, naval officer, in Atlantis)
Phantom Menace (with Gene Autry and an underground kingdom)
Buck Rogers (with Larry "Buster" Crabbe)
Flash Gordon (there were three in total)
Dangers of the Candian Mounted (sometimes referred to as "The RCMP and the Treasure of Ghengis Kahn")
Red Ryder
The Galloping Ghost (with Red Grange) (This is often touted as the best serial ever)
Fighting Devil Dogs
Captain Marvel
Dick Tracy
Secret Service in Darkest Africa
Spy Smasher
Don Winslow of the Navy
and many more...

So the idea was to build a "campaign" in 12 episodes in which the heroes and villains battle for something. If you are not a fan of this genre you won't appreciate how much fun this promised to be.

Villains Collage

So the idea is to build a system that allows for the creation of interesting scientific devices like rocket packs (Commando Cody), Vaal Planes (Crash Corrigan), and lighting machines (Captain Marvel). The heroes will battle a host of minions of the arch villain until the last episode. The basic combat mechanics will come from G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T., but we also recommend the use of Adventures and Expeditions by G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T.. The charts, weapons tables, characters, etc. are all consistent with G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T., Battles by G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T., and Adventures and Expeditions by G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T..

The basic notion of To Be Continued is that scenarios, called episodes, are linked together to create twelve-episode serials. Each player generally controls 2-4 Main Characters and perhaps a group of Extras. Episodes are meant to be wild and wooly affairs in which action is king.

At Historicon 2005 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Chris and I each ran a number of To Be Continued by G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T. games. Here are some photos.

Female Victim 1 A captured victim I made by modifying a clicky base heroine.

Female Victim 2 A captured victim I made by modifying a clicky base heroine.

Theater A theater I scratch built to be part of my Pulp town, loosely modeled on the small town where I spent my summers as a kid, Granville, IL.

RCMP A scene from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Treasure of Ghengis Kahn.

Martian Tripods A shot of three Martian tripods (Reviresco) advancing on the little town of Bramley. Notice that the one on the left has been hit by an Earthling and is burning.

Bramley The town of Bramley in the foreground with Martians in the background. You can see the destroyed tripod in the middle. This scenario was Black Hawk Down with Martians. The advancing tripods were on a mission to rescue their compatriot.

This is a shot of the destroyed Martian tripod.

Indiana Jones market This is a shot from the game that Chris Palmer and Eric Schlegel ran in seven episodes. This episode was the fight in the market place between Indiana, Marian, and a host of unpleasant people.

Lost City This is a scene from Episode 2 of "Son of Spy Smasher." This episode involved the evil COL Nogga Hyde trying to capture the professor's daughter (an archaeologist) to pesuade him to turn over his secrets.

More Lost City Good guys trying to hold off Chinese fanataics in the service of COL Hyde.

The Inn at the Top of the World Interior shot of the Inn at the Top of the World, where Episode 3 took place. In this episode, COL Hyde's minions employed her secret robot stormtroopers to rescue COL Hyde from Spy Smasher.

	A captured victim I made by modifying a clicky base heroine.
	A captured victim I made by modifying a clicky base heroine.
	A theater I scratch built to be part of my Pulp town, loosely modeled on the small town where I spent my summers as a kid, Granville, IL.
	A scene from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Treasure of Ghengis Kahn.
	A shot of three Martian tripods (Reviresco) advancing on the little town of Bramley. Notice that the one on the left has been hit by an Earthling and is burning.
	The town of Bramley in the foreground with Martians in the background. You can see the destroyed tripod in the middle. This scenario was Black Hawk Down with Martians. The advancing tripods were on a mission to rescue their compatriot.
	This is a shot of the destroyed Martian tripod.
	This is a shot from the game that Chris Palmer and Eric Schlegel ran in seven episodes. This episode was the fight in the market place between Indiana, Marian, and a host of unpleasant people.
	This is a scene from Episode 2 of "Son of Spy Smasher." This episode involved the evil COL Nogga Hyde trying to capture the professor's daughter (an archaeologist) to pesuade him to turn over his secrets.
	Good guys trying to hold off Chinese fanataics in the service of COL Hyde.
	Interior shot of the Inn at the Top of the World, where Episode 3 took place. In this episode, COL Hyde's minions employed her secret robot stormtroopers to rescue COL Hyde from Spy Smasher.