es, a review of the “The Complete Guide of the Warriors of Cosmos”.
THE PDF:
The 250 page PDF starts off with that table of contents that splits the PDF intro the Six Chapters.
Chapter #1 - “Introduction”
We start this chapter with Cynthia Celeste Miller explaining that she want to toss the red carpet out for the most famous series of “Cartoon Action Hour”: “The Warriors of Cosmos”
The next is the familiar summary of the series: “Iconia was once a utopia; a world full of prosperity and splendor… of unspoiled beauty and ever-present peace. But that was before the coming of Nekrottus, an evil sorcerer with a mind more evil and unfathomable than any before him. He founded the Blackskull Empire and brought with him a foul corruption that quickly begin to spread like wildfire. With the empire at his command, he proceeded to methodically conquer most of the world. Now, the only major kingdom that remains free is Haven, the crown jewel of civilization. It has become the last bastion of freedom in Iconia, but Nekrottus will not rest until it, too, has fallen under his control.
The king of Haven, a just and noble man named Rastor, has seen the devastation caused by Nekrottus and has set about assembling Iconia’s mightiest warriors into a group with the single goal of taking the realm back and restoring order to it.
They are the Guardians of Iconia!”
The following is “The Origin” which covers fictional birth – though death – and fictional rebirth in the early 2000s.
“Getaway to Excitement” is the explain of each chapter of the PDF.
I let the PDF explains “Stat Blocks”:
“In Chapters Three and Four, you’ll find numerous ‘stat blocks’ for characters, vehicles, and playsets. Let’s look at how they are set up and arranged.
Color Coding
Each stat block is color coded so you’ll know if the character, vehicle or playset is heroic or villainous. Heroic stat blocks have green backgrounds with yellow header bars, while villainous stat blocks have blue backgrounds with gray header bars. One playset is neutral and its stat block has a green background with a gray header bar.
Types of Stat Blocks
There are four types of stat blocks in this book and each type has a different set-up. Furthermore, they always appear in a certain order within a section. Below, you’ll see the order as well as descriptions of every type.
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New characters: If a new character has an illustration (and almost all of them do), the character is given an entire page. The stat block is in the upper left corner with an illustration to the right and a bio below it.
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Modified Characters: New versions of old characters don't have an illustration and unless their stat block is too long, the bio will appear underneath the stat block.
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Vehicles: Vehicles usually appear two or three to a page. The stat block itself is to the left of the page with the bio to the right of it in a tan box.
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Playsets: Like vehicles, playsets usually appear two or three to a page, though particularly large ones may occupy most of a page by itself. The stat block is to the right of the page with the bio to the left of it in a tan box. An easy way to tell them from vehicles is that playsets don’t have Qualities listed.”
We end with the note from the fictional creator of “Warriors of Cosmos”: Gerald Peevey.
Chapter #2 - “The World of Iconia”
We start with “Planet” which covers Iconia – which contains four continents – Iconus (the big one, Ketsuo, Poloara and Grakua – and some of the oceans – such as Verilius Ocean, Carpi Ocean, the Polar Ocean – and rivers – such as the Stronghold River and the Crystal River. After that we cover Mountain Ranges – such as Fogshroud Mountains (where the Blackskull Empire’s “Fortress of Gloom” is located), the Mountains of Rasmyz (where the Sliverwick Mines are located), Dargor Mountains.
Next, we cover Suns and Moons – the main sun is called Glarus Alpha. Sometimes, it’s joined by Glarus Beta.
Iconia has two moons – Nambius – which is large and rocky. Azra – is smaller and cover with water.
Then we cover “Haven” which covers much of it’s information from “Cartoon Action Hour: Season 1’s” rulebook, expect for the following:
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“Border Town: The roughest and toughest of all Haven’s settlements. It lies along the westernmost portion of the kingdom (hence its name) and forms a very long, narrow strip. It’s not the grandest town, to be sure, but it’s certainly the largest and most heavily populated. The citizens of Border Town are salt-of-the-earth people who work hard and possess a prideful stubbornness that has served them well over the centuries. Most of them dress in natural colors, giving them a distinctly bucolic appearance. The Border Town militia is a fierce fighting force, far beyond those found in other cities. The militiamen and women boast grit, determination and fighting skills that give them an edge against invading forces.
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Town Hall: This squat, brick building doesn’t look impressive in the least, but it’s where all the big decisions of the local government are made. Furthermore, it acts as the courthouse and headquarters for the militia. As such, it’s heavily guarded at all times and is virtually impregnable.
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Marney’s: A place of business that caused some serious uproar with parent groups. Apparently, it’s a cantina, though it’s never referred to as such. The only drink ever shown is a pink concoction called Verga Milk. Inside, one is likely to find any manner of rough-and-tumble patrons, often of dubious character. On more than one occasion, the protagonists came through those swinging double doors in an effort to find someone with a shady past or occupation. Marney herself is a stout woman with black hair, a brown jumpsuit and furry boots. She’s her own bouncer, so anyone causing too much trouble will find themselves being booted out the door by her.”
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Draven: A spooky village by a graveyard cover in fog.
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Costaville: A cheerful mayor named Potkinz runs this lakeside village.
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Bremer: A town famous for berry-juice making factory.
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Pargura: From the PDF: “A primitive village, most notable for being the hometown of a traitor named Vakor, who aligned himself with the Blackskull Empire… before being imprisoned by Nekrottus.”
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Abner: A muddy village where most of the people are miners.
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Bonnet: A town where people act too nice.
Next, we cover the Black Skull Empire business – which is similar to its Season 1 – but with some stuff:
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Beechoakia: Season 2’s villain, Weezlor, is from the still of this place.
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Mollusk: Nekkrottus show a good amount of smarts by tricking the Mollusk into believing he was their god of pure hatred, Xabulo.
We cover much of the “Other Lands” – which is similar to it’s Season 1’s version – which the expection of the follow – and I let the PDF do the talking here:
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Darkrain Jungle: “The continent’s largest jungle is also its deadliest. Numerous towns exist within the darkened canopy of gargantuan tree branches and leaves, but only the most resolute can survive in that environment. Some scholars have said that there are more indigenous beasts in the Darkrain Jungle than everywhere else on Iconia combined. One of the most prominent species that makes its home there is the Krogillas, a strange humanoid hybrid of crocodiles and gorillas. They are brutish, fiercely territorial and have no concept of right or wrong. Each one is a worthy adversary in its own right, but the fact that they travel (and fight) in groups makes them absolutely frightful threats to anyone traversing the jungle.”
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Gyro’s Arm: “Said to be the rainiest area of Iconus, this wide peninsula juts out from the northwestern portion of the continent and is home to several seaside settlements. These settlements are largely sleepy little fishing villages, except one: Portalia. Portalia is a large town that treasures art, music and performance above all else. So far, Nekrottus has paid Portalia no heed, perhaps because he feels it has little to offer him strategically. The rest of Gyro’s Arm is grasslands with a great deal of rocky terrain, especially as one travels closer to the coastline. The near-constant rain commonly causes floods, though most villages and towns are well prepared for it. Many of them are even built on stilts to keep them elevated above the water during floods.”
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Krotea: “With technology vastly superior to any Iconia had ever seen, the mighty Kroteans dominated the world, subjugating every civilization they came across. When they were on the cusp of ruling the entire planet, a mysterious force turned them all to stone. Or at least all but one (more on that later in the book). While most of their settlements have been lost to the ravages of time, the cradle of the Krotean empire remains mostly intact, though much worse for wear. Krotea is a sprawling city void of any life. Its gigantic stone buildings, with their once-magnificent columns and majestic steps, stand defiantly, as if to spite the damaging winds, harsh weather and all the other factors that normally wipe such cities from the face of the planet. The sight of thousands of “statues” among the ruins is truly unsettling once one realizes they aren’t statues at all, but the ancient stone corpses of the Kroteans.”
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The Stretch: “This long, relatively narrow strip of land is an arid desert that makes the rest of the continent’s western region inaccessible to those seeking to travel from the east. Most of it is laden with endless sand dunes, cacti and little else, but its southern section is a bit more interesting. It is this area that has become known as The Frontier, for it is the western border between civilization and the wild lands that lie beyond. Although The Frontier is still a desert, it is broken up by precipitous mountains and rugged, rocky hills. Scattered in between these mountains and hills can be found dozens or perhaps even hundreds of boom towns teeming with people looking to strike it rich on Gemrock, a precious mineral that can only be found in this region.
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Vessmir Swamp: “The Vessmir Swamp is an uninviting land filled with mud, black water and dead-looking trees that seem to lurch over to snatch interlopers up with their long, twisting branches. The northern portion of the swamp is fairly easy to traverse, but that changes the further south one travels. The southernmost area is known as the Gunk Marshes and it is all but impossible to travel through due to the dense growth of trees. This is why its native denizens, the Muck People, have been able to remain completely reclusive for centuries.
Next is Iconia’s “Races And Societies”
– much of it follows Season #1’s formats with some additions from new – Swineloks – and somewhat new race – the Gobbits (Motormouth’s race) from Season #2
Chapter #3 - “The Seasons”
This covers all three seasons. Each character begans with explain what was going on behind the scenes before going to the characters, vehicles and playset for that season. I will list characters – and if I can make a statement on them, I will – if I can’t make a statement on them. I just name them. I will not touch the vehicles to leave some suprizes for the readers of “We’re Back”.
Season #1’s Characters:
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Heroes:
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Bouldarr: Looks like Olmec’s lost twin in his profile picture but has this season 2’s look in other pictures.
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Combato: Looks good – though following his Season 2’s appearance.
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Falcor
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Hawklady
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Kazgull
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King Rastor: I wish his Star Power was 4.
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Lorxan
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Merlis: His background got cut off before it got finished.
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Noblara
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Oshida
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Sure-Shot: Just a little shock to find that she is similar to Earth’s Africans.
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Villains:
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Blobbor
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Buzzard Man
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Gatlyna: Has her Season 2 appearance.
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King Krab
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Monstro
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Nekkrottus
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Serpentina
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Shadow Queen
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Spydar
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Volcanus
Season #2:
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Heroes:
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Azlara: Still has her Season 2’s appearance.
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Full-Steam: Looks merger of Megatron of “Transformers” fame with Leader 1 of “Gobots” fame.
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Gro-D
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Maximarr
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Motormouth
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Prismor: Look like a crystal version of Pyramid Head – a villain from the “Silent Hill” horror games.
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Sir Castic: A medieval version of Luke Skywalker of “Star Wars” fame.
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Villians:
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Assyd Reign: Grosser then Gro-D by a ton of toxic waste.
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Chillout
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Eye-Catcher: Looks like she got a hair cut.
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Falconus: Looks like a winged version of Victor Frankstien’s monster.
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Vileheart
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Weezlor
Season #3: The High Point!!!!!!!
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Heroes:
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Headspin: He and Beatfox start in one of the most bizarre episode of the series.
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Komputarr
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Patty Woman: A female Judge Dread.
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Snap-Yap
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Trailblazor
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Tuff-Tusk
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Velcron
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Villains:
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Bigwig: Alien female cyborg based on Big Boss from “C.O.P.S” cartoon. Not connected to the Blackskull Empire.
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Blood-Boiler
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Bog-Frog
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Master Gorot: An homage to the Master from “Manos: The Hands of Fate”, one of the worst movies that MST3K tackled. Not connected to Blackskull Empire.
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Ob-Noxius
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Sharkbite
Season #4:
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Heroes:
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Afterburn: Looks like Amelia Earnheart
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Armora
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Bubblor: The creator character contest winner. No harm feeling
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Sheriff Stalwart
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Submersia
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Villains:
- Cassidy Mulligan: A bad guy right in Haven’s own country.
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Ghostra
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Grumblor
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Kree-Churr: A walking purple Krang wannabe.
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Max Rudo
Season #5: The Downfall Begins.
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Heroes:
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Fightra: A female human from Earth.
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Hogwash
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Kraneum: A male human from Earth.
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Ma-Cho: Another male human from Earth.
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Spotlight
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Suck-Em: An “E.T.”-like Alien.
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Villains:
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Archduke Yagon
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Bug Lord: A mutated human
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Double-Take: From the PDF file, their bio: “They say two heads are better than one. If that’s true, then Double-Take is pretty darn great. Rightaria and Leftina are members of a mostly-extinct dual-headed race from the northern regions of Iconia. They may share the same body, but they couldn’t possibly be more different than one another. Rightaria is a rough-and-tumble tomboy-ish warrior, while Leftina is a sultry, feminine sorceress. It should come as no surprise that they argue amongst themselves as often as not. Collectively, they are the total package. In essence, you have a mighty warrior and a powerful mage all in one body. They would probably be almost undefeatable if they could ever get along! Forebodius brought Double-Take into the fold after seeing them waylay a merchant convoy, defeating all the guards who were brought along to protect the goods. He finds her a useful addition to his collection of bad guys, but always grows tired of their constant bickering.
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Forebodius: The replacement for Nekkrottus for this season.
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Knucklehead
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Porkchop: Imagine Beebop of “Teenage Mutants Ninja Turtles” as a purple pig – and you get this character look.
Season #6: The Ending Season
Chapter #4: “More Warriors”
This starts off with the planned ending movie for “Warriors of Cosmos” – which brings back S’Goth – the demonic dark magic teacher of Nekkrottus – and contains many deaths – on the both side of the good and bad side.
The next business was the one season of “Warriors of Cosmos Forever” – which was a more modern type with blood – usually when it dealt with Goop Zombies or a new goon type – the Gentifreaks.
The next business was fictional attempted to win the girl market spin-off, “The Warrior Women of Iconia”.
New Heroes: Spectaria (a Heroic Goddess)
New Villains: Atrocia, Glamoria, Glitteria (a pop music version of Eris), Rainbow, Slimera, T’Dara (the exiled evil goddess), & Unicornia
Chapter #5: “The Players”
This chapter stats with the PC Guidelines, which I let the PDF do the talking: “Warriors of the Cosmos is a straightforward Series when it comes to character creation. Given that it was literally the first setting created for the game, it acts as the baseline in this regard. That is, there aren’t many alterations to the standard rules. In fact, the only two deviations are that PCs receive less Trait Points than most Superhuman-Tiered Series and the “Theme Adherence” rule.
Star Power: 3
Tier & Trait Points: Superhuman, 22
Other Rules:
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Theme Adherence: PCs must either be Guardians of Iconia or allies of the Guardians of Iconia.”
The next explains that land-base and sky-base were the most common-type of the vehicles in the series.
Following that this help naming characters in the following way Wordplay (Make puns or play on words); Appearance (How the PC’s looks), Ability (their Gimmick of the PC’s character), Or Just A Cool Name (That’s so easy, a five-year can spell it out for you.)
Next is the Random Signature Qualities and the tables that go with them. Following them is an 11 step of “Lifepath” for this series. Following this btwo examples of it done – complete with bio just like the actual characters in Chapter #3 – one done by Cythina – “Musketaya” – and one day Barak – “Wrench Monkey.”
Chapter #6: “Game Guide”
We start with “Interrupt The Series” – I let the rule book explains that one with PDF: “Earlier in the book, we broke the series down on a season-by-season basis, allowing you and your group to see how it changed over time. This gives you a couple options for how you can run the series for your players.
Specific Season
With this method, you and your players select a particular season and set the game during that time period. This means characters, vehicles and playsets from later seasons won’t be available. Once you finish your game Season, you can move on to the next one, opening up more material that can be used. A fun spin on this approach is to begin at Season One and work your way through all the seasons, one at a time.
Season Five will prove to be an interesting challenge, as it was the season in which all the old characters either found themselves appearing simply as background characters or not appearing at all. You could have the players create all new PCs for this Season or, if you don’t mind sacrificing authenticity, allow them to carry on playing their existing characters. There is no right or wrong way to handle it.
Freeform
Going freeform simply means looking at all the characters, vehicles and playsets as one giant sandbox to be picked and chosen from as you deem necessary. This shelves the notion of sticking closely to the cartoon series in favor of versatility. We’ve given you all the tools… now you can implement them however you wish. There’s a certain sense of freedom to this.
As with the first method, Season Five is something you’re going to have to address. In the cartoon, Season Five featured almost entirely new characters. This is fairly simple to deal with for the most part, since the Blackskull Empire remained the primary villains for the season. Where it can become problematic, however, is the leadership of the Blackskull Empire. In Season Five, Nekrottus was replaced by Forebodius as the leader. You’ll need to decide who you wish the leader to be in your version of the series. A Blackskull Empire civil war plot line could prove intriguing. Or you could completely ignore the existence of one of them. Another option is to have Forebodius exist independently of the Blackskull Empire, perhaps as a rival.”
Next, it’s the dials – and despite Iconia being almost conquered – I’m not surprise to see 2 on all four dials.
The following are adjusting the dials – for lighter business or for darker business – straight from Season 1’s rulebook. The next section tells you to stick the map in the PDF. Following is how to make your villains more powerful. And then we get reminder use non-Blackskull Empire villains. After that we get five step for the Quick Critters.
Following that, we get a list of goons squad for the series.
After that we get episodes – which mixes new ones with episode seeds from Season 1 and Season 2. This has a short episode that might fight into a Very Dark Series.
The Extras:
After a map of Iconia and Haven again. hen we get all the stats without bios or images in alphabetic order – and then same with the vehicles and playsets. Then we get afterward from Cynthia Celeste Miller.
MY OPINION:
I have to something I thought I will never do in my entire writing of stuff for “Cartoon Action Hour”: give this PDF a “SUPER A+”.
