Where else did They Come From?

[thedonnie]

It originally happened in the comic Kingdom Come, if I recall.

No. In Kingdom Come, Superman did not kill the Joker for the murder of Lois (and everyone else in the Daily Planet). Superman brought in the Joker but Magog killed the Joker. The popularity that Magog got from doing so is a deciding factor in Superman going "You know what? You like killers? You can have killers."

[No One of Consequence]

Hmm. Threats from They Came From The Center of the Earth might include:

The Femizons, from one of the many subterranean civilizations, one dominated by female warrior women and their class of psychic priestess. They aim to overthrow the male dominated civilizations of the turn of the century surface world and replace them with their own utopian system. However, said system is heavily based on racial eugenics, a strict caste system, and what would later be described as fascism. (This draws heavily from Mary E. Bradly Lane's Mizora, an 1890 "feminist utopia" science fiction novel, as well as certain bits from H. Rider Haggard's She.)

The Serpent Men, another subterranean society, the surviving remnants of the ancient serpent men who ruled the surface world in the lost ages of the past long before the rise of Atlantis or the Ice Ages. They worship dark and forbidden elder gods long forgotten by the surface world and strive to reconquer the lands they were driven from eons ago. (Basically the Serpent Men from Robert E. Howard's King Kull stories, possibly also drawing on those weird reptilian-aliens secretly rule the world conspiracy theories.)

The Svartalfar, the classic "dark elves" of Germanic/Nordic mythology, with their dark magic and ancient engines of arcane technology. (Something somewhere between Drow and Dwarves, with a very heavy influence from Hellboy 2: The Golden Army.)

The Morlocks, time travelers from Earth's dark future working to ensure that their future comes to pass and the surface humans are reduced to slave-cattle. (Obviously, the Morlocks from HG Wells's The Time Machine, especially the 2002 film.)

The Madlands, a place where logic and proportion no longer apply. The chaotic denizens of this realm pursue ends which make sense only to themselves, leaving turmoil and madness in their wake. (Yeah, it's Alice in Wonderland.)

The Vril, energy beings - are they angelic? aliens? evolved future human souls? - from a crystalline subterranean realm manipulating the surface world for their own mysterious ends. (From an 1871 book The Coming Race by Edward Bulwer-Lytton, as well as certain bits of theosophy.)

The Spiders, spider-like monsters who live within the earth, disturbed by surface explorers. (From an early 19th century Russian short story, as well as Shelob and the Murkwood spiders from Tolkien.)

The Black Blood of the Earth, a primordial black ooze that seems to possess a level of sentience and an extreme hostility to surface life. (The black ooze from the X-Files, among other things.)

[worldsaverinc]

They came from the Wilds of Mother Earth!

This game would be set in one of two periods, the 70s or early 2000s. There is a rash of animals attack movies out there either swarms of typical animals or unusual animals, mutated animals, giant versions of animals, even human-animal hybrids.

The theme of this game recalls stuff such as Kingdom of the Spider, The Swarm!, Boa, Anaconda, Boa vs. Anaconda

[Grimmi05]

They Came From the WAR!
focusing on 80s-90s action movies headlined by Arnold and Sylvester. Inspiration comes from things like "Commando", "Cobra", "Rambo: First Blood Part II", "The A-Team". Architypes can be "The Soldier" "The Sidekick or the Everyman" "The Vigilante", "The Commander" "The Expert" and "The Alphabet"(person who works for government agencies not always trusted but has connections)

They Came from the Shadows! one of the smallest focused ones dealing with the supernatural procedurals from the 90s. Inspiration comes from "The X-files", "Millennium", "Twin Peaks" Architypes can be "the Believe", The Skeptic" "The Informant" 'The Head" and "The Theorist"

[No One of Consequence]

They came from the Wilds of Mother Earth!

A natural horror supplement would work really well for Beyond the Grave, I think.

[Storyteller323]

They Came From Ages Past!
A book about the pulpy two fisted "Go to hidden islands with dinosaurs" sort of movies that pop up every few years, like The Land That Time Forgot, or The Lost Continent, or King Dinosaur.

Also It Came From Deepest Fathoms! About giant monster movies not necessarily attached to godzilla like Yongary, Reptillicus or Gorgo, maybe with rules for controlling the monster for kaiju fights.

[Storyteller323]

They Came From The Center of the Earth, which is set around the turn of the Century, between about 1890 and 1915, and involves deep underground exploration and the strange and sometimes alien worlds which exist there. Obviously Jules Verne's book is a big inspiration, but there were a lot of "Hollow Earth" stories from the 19th century. Also certain bits from Disney's Atlantis: The Lost Empire and Godzilla vs Kong. At least one of the underground civilizations will be a Feminist "utopia" (which was a part of several 19th century hollow earth/underworld stories), which would draw on some of the early (pre-Crisis) Wonder Woman material as well as Haggard's She. Also the underground kingdom of the Serpent Men, the ancient ruins of the "Atlantean" super science civilization from before the magnetic pole shift that moved Antarctica from the middle of the Atlantic to the South Pole (and the freaky psychic ghosts that lurk there), and assorted other craziness.

You may like a different rpg called Hollow Earth Expedition. It's great even if out of print. Maybe some day Onyx Path will buy it from the original creator and start making new stuff for it again.

[No One of Consequence]

You may like a different rpg called Hollow Earth Expedition. It's great even if out of print. Maybe some day Onyx Path will buy it from the original creator and start making new stuff for it again.

I have it, as well as its sourcebooks (including the John Carter inspired Martian expansion). I'm not super wild about the system, but the setting is a lot of fun.

[Storyteller323]

I have it, as well as its sourcebooks (including the John Carter inspired Martian expansion). I'm not super wild about the system, but the setting is a lot of fun.

Personally I like the system, simple but robust, but nonetheless glad someone else likes the game.

[No One of Consequence]

Personally I like the system, simple but robust, but nonetheless glad someone else likes the game.

I don't dislike it, but if I were to try running it again I might try using Adventure! or Pulp Cthulhu to see how they work at it. At some point I may try adapting the It Came From system, but it would require a little bit of effort to adapt parts of it to the specific genre.

[wingnut2292]

They Came from Ghibli Hills! A guide pastoral supernatural slice of life and comming of age adventure in the nature of Studio Ghibli movies. A world of flying islands, cat busses, parents turned into pigs. Set free a fallen star, endure a witch's curse, restore nature to proper balance. Doramon and Kimi no Na wa are good source films too.

They Came in Robed in Magic and Moonlight ( aka They Came in Name of Love and Justice!) A 'They Came From...' treatment of the magical girl genre. From the early Fancy Lala and Hime no Ribbon, to modern day shows like Sailor Moon, Card Captour Sakura, Pretty Cure, and Lycical Nanoha to deconstructions like Madoka Magica and Yuki Yuna is a Hero. Lots of dashboards and setting gauges to adjust the world to get the tone and narrative you want

Where the #$@! did you think we came from?
In the same vein as Gurren-Llagann. A treatment of Super Robots, and the crazy antics they get up to.

[glamourweaver]

They Came From R’Lyeh as a Lovecraftian horror supplement is pretty self explanatory. It should be a cross line supplement for introducing Lovecraftian elements to different lines and how they playout differently genre wise.

- Beneath the Sea has already done most of the work for you given both the archetypes you’re playing and the type of horror you are facing, main thing is some optional tone shifting mechanics

- Beyond the Grave, you want Herbert West? Because that’s how you get Herbert West!

- [Classified], welcome to offbrand Delta Green

- Center of the Earth (yeah I’m including it because it’s the best fleshed out idea on this thread and it should happen), mixes as well with Lovecraft Mythos elements as Beneath the Sea does, but with a pulpier tone resulting in more empowered heroes

- Cyclops’ Cave takes that a step further, getting into the whole pastiche of Conan ripping Elder Gods apart

[Cinder]

They Came From R’Lyeh as a Lovecraftian horror supplement is pretty self explanatory. It should be a cross line supplement for introducing Lovecraftian elements to different lines and how they playout differently genre wise.

- Beneath the Sea has already done most of the work for you given both the archetypes you’re playing and the type of horror you are facing, main thing is some optional tone shifting mechanics

- Beyond the Grave, you want Herbert West? Because that’s how you get Herbert West!

- [Classified], welcome to offbrand Delta Green

- Center of the Earth (yeah I’m including it because it’s the best fleshed out idea on this thread and it should happen), mixes as well with Lovecraft Mythos elements as Beneath the Sea does, but with a pulpier tone resulting in more empowered heroes

- Cyclops’ Cave takes that a step further, getting into the whole pastiche of Conan ripping Elder Gods apart

Yeah, about that, after last years They Came from the North Pole!, I am working on my They Came from Strange Aeons! for the SP Nexus, which I expect to finish around the end of the year.

Deep Ones, Shoggoths, Great Old Ones and all that.

It's not a "real" They Came From, mind you, but it's also true I did write tons of official They Came From material and developed Cyclops's Cave, so there's that.

[Alizerin]

I always wanted to see They Came From the 36th Chamber and have a book all on Shaw Brothers (and others) 1970's Kung Fu movies. The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, The Five Deadly Venoms, The Kid with the Golden Arm, Drunken Master, etc. etc. I think the material could be pretty great for inspiration and seems about perfect for a They Came From supplement.

[wyrdhamster]

By 8th August Monday Meeting Notes - we will get They Came from Beneath My Bed!
'First Draft
Matthew: Time for the They Came From players to get some goosebumps, as the range of youthful Camp Murder Lake-esque Archetypes expands and our stories turn to evil piano teachers, cameras that erase people, and parents who turn into plants.'