Friday, April 20, 2012

George Pal's War Of The Worlds Failed Television Pilot As Campaign Jump Off Point For Your Old School Science Fantasy Game





In 1975 George Pal himself was presenting a pilot film based around his War of World film Which follows in the wake of the film in a far future in which the humanity follows the aliens  back to their "home world".We are given a great introduction to Captain James Anderson & his crew. The Hyperspace Carrier Pegasus is one of 6  attack ships launched from Earth to gain revenge for a series devastating attacks on Earth. There are hints that that this isn't the first expedition to find out about the aliens home planet. The aliens are tracked to Alpha Centuri.



The Mega Dungeons Of Mega 

Alien from George Pal's War of the Worlds

The first expediation of  explorers didn't meet a good end & we find out about the "Martians" from the first movie. They're hellish interior world is a combination of Dante's Inferno & another Well's creation. The First Men In The Moon. There could be a myriad of adapted lifeforms on Mega
I'd speculate that they're more details of this world in the show's bible then anything else. We could find lots of small details left behind by the Martians such as hangers of Manta craft, alien ruins, sleep chambers with hundreds of warriors, & all sorts of weird things that the crew might find.
One very important detail though is the various races of  aliens that the show purposes!
We also find out about the final enemy in the form of the Planet Endor
The Legacy Of Endor 

Ultimately we are given a glimpse of the planet Endor. Its an interesting choose of names. Endor in the Bible is named after the witch of Endor. This planet like the Biblical location is a place of pollution, suffering, & ultimate black mystery. We know nothing about this planet except some very interesting tidbits.. 



  1. The planet Endor is a pollution choked wasteland of hellish landscapes that reminds me of Metaluna 
  2. Here & there are bits & pieces of exposition about the planet. The space port we see in the live action scenes are archiac & strange. This could be another case of the technology will never change because we've reached the plateau of our society trope. 
  3. The voice modulation makes me suspect that the aliens of Endor are human/animal/ worm parasites that have a high degree of bio engineering facilities.. 
  4. The original exposition from the 1953 War of The Worlds movie stated that the Martians were escaping a dying world. Endor doesn't look any different! 
The Hyperspace Carrier Pegasus 

Nothing exists in a vacuum & Matt Jefferies who designed the Star Ship Enterprise was drafted for the 1975 War Of The Worlds show. When the pilot fell through he recycled the design for the Hyper Space Carrier for AMT the model company as part of its Space Command line! It ultimately became the Leif Ericson. The design is still being sold today!
Its a beautiful ship & would make a perfect adventuring vessel all by itself 




The War of The Worlds Pilot & The Osr 

Where to begin? There are actually three different campaigns nesting right in the pilot itself. The first would be perfect for a Mutant Future game. Skulking, hiding, & battling the Martians in the ruins of your favorite cities. The mutants are simply escaped experimental victims ultimately nothing more then genetic dead ends. The other option is the Killraven Marvel comics from the 1970s, 1990s or 2000s. They offer a glimpse into a world of resistance & ultimate escape from the Martians! The campaign might be a cross between Labyrinth Lord & Mutant Future itself. A sort of Terminator meets The Tripods affair.
Surely you can't do anything with Carcosa? Surely you can! Carcosa might be another world that the some of the other 6 expeditions visit! The Sarmak might use Carcosa like the other alien races do as a dumping ground & resource. Given their Lovecraftian antimony they'd be right at home on the planet. They might be another race simply trying to survive on the surface still battling the survivors of a crashed hyper space carrier.
Terimal Space offers lots of possibilities! The incredible locations found in the pilot, the various races, & the ship itself make an awesome jump off point for any number of adventures

Excellency On this most incredible occasion. We of the Hyperspace Carrier Voulum'ru in the Year of the Most High Emperor of Humanity salute you! We are on the eve of striking the final blow against our most hated enemy of humanity within the Alpha Centuri star group. We humbly await your command! Your loyal  & most devoted servant Re'croini of The Hyper Space Carrier  Twri're 
Human Space Empires offers some of the very best hooks for this campaign. The location of the Martians near Alpha Centuri is right in the back yard of the Human Empire. The races fit right in with no alteration at all. This is exactly the sort of game that this pilot fits best! Grab your zeta ray blaster & go kick some Martian Ass!
 The pilot had some of the top talent in the science fiction television & movie field but it was way too far ahead of its time! Ultimately this is a fine example of what if. 
This is a fan post & made for the express purpose of entertainment & education this post in no way is meant to violate the copyright of any of the copy right holders.  All opinions expressed in this entry are mine & do not reflect on the copyright holders or their works.. This is a non for profit blog. Thank you 

9 comments:

  1. Very interesting, and a great find. Thanks, Eric!

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  2. Glad you liked it Trey! Your comment is most welcome! I had the EMT kit of the Lief Ericson when I was a kid. It was most interesting to find out the behind the scenes stuff with George Pal! There's more to come! Thanks again

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  3. I had that ship model! It glowed in the dark, and the tiny little shuttle could go in and out of the opening bay doors. I loved that thing :)

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  4. I, too, once had that model--the glow-in-the-dark version. It used to hang from the ceiling in my bedroom growing up. I never knew about the connection to George Pal, War of the Worlds, etc. Wow. Thanks for making my day! Very cool post!

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  5. Thanks each & everyone one of you guys for making this post one of my happiest! Welcome! There's more to come!
    The model was icing on the cake for me & finding out about some extraordinary things about this project!
    Thanks for all of the kind words again!

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  6. "Nothing exists in a vacuum & Matt Jefferies who designed the Star Ship Enterprise was drafted for the 1975 War Of The Worlds show. When the pilot fell through he recycled the design for the Hyper Space Carrier for AMT the model company as part of its Space Command line! It ultimately became the Leif Ericson."

    And then the Leif Ericson was used by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle as the INSS MacArthur in "The Mote In God's Eye"!

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  7. Nice Ed I forgot about the Motties! Its been a couple of years since I read "The Mote In God's Eye". I didn't realize it was the same ship! Thanks for enlightening about this fact! Excellent..

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  8. You're welcome! Glad you appreciate it! It's just an odd little factoid I remember from an article Niven or Pournelle or both wrote for, if I remember right, "Galaxy" magazine back when "The Mote In God's Eye" came out. In it, they gave credit where credit was due for things like the design of the ship and the mathematics of the Alderson Drive and Langston Field.

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