Reading The Sixth Gun: Road to the Six

This issue is just a preview of the upcoming series, the first issue of which should be released next week. Here are my impressions.

• This story is written in three arcs, each one focusing on different characters.

• The first arc features Drake Sinclair as a knight; a caption says, “600 years before Becky Montcrief receives the Sixth Gun.” Sinclair confronts the Grey Witch, but the battle is not decisive. She seems to predict that one day they will face each other again.

• Then the story shifts to an Andre Belton, who strikes me as a Pinkerton. He is exploring a cave system—one that, according to his guide, held “An entire civilization... right under the noses of whoever lived up above.” The caption says this is “Shortly after Becky Montcrief rebuilds the world.” Belton describes his activities as a tracker, which introduces intriguing characters and locations only briefly. What is most intriguing is that he is bringing the item—perhaps the spirit of a powerful creature—to Mizadori in his weird hotel! These are elements from Shadow Roads that I wanted to see more, so this is exciting. Then it is revealed that the intended recipient of Belton's item, who may be the leader of the mysterious Cabal, is the person who once led the Knights of Solomon!

• Third the story shifts to Ghost Eyes and Izzy, two more characters from Shadow Roads. I liked them and am glad to see that they're back. The caption here says, “Elsewhere,” so it seems like this is the same time period as the previous vignette. They are both members of the Black Stars now, trailing some kind of villain through a swamp. Traveling through the Crossroads brings them to what looks a like a village in feudal Japan. Their quarry is a warlock, who is also carrying a vial like the one Belton recovered. The warlock dies from a gunshot, and it turns out that Abigail is the one who shot him. She has Kalfu with her!

These all seem to be elements that will be mixed into the new storyline, so I'm excited for it. The Sixth Gun is a rich setting with many intriguing threads, and it seems like nearly everything will be in play for the upcoming series.

Streaming Inspiration for Treasure Hunter Adventures

As I was tracking down the four movies featured in Monday's post, it occurred to me that I should type up a post that lists which treasure hunter films are available on the various streaming platforms. Here is that. Note that I did not include non-fiction shows.

Amazon Prime: Lost Treasure of the Maya; National Treasure: Book of Secrets

AppleTV+: Fountain of Youth

Disney+: All five Indiana Jones movies; National Treasure; National Treasure: Book of Secrets; National Treasure: Edge of History (series)

Hulu: None?

Max: King Solomon's Mines (1950); The Goonies; Uncharted

Netflix: Finding 'Ohana; Mr. Car and the Knights Templar; Outer Banks (series); The Monuments Men; Tomb Raider: The Rise of Lara Croft (animated series)

Tubi: Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold; Firewalker; King Solomon's Mines (1985); the Librarian trilogy; Tomb Raider (2018)—and that's where I'll pause the list. A search for the word treasure turned up lots and lots of movies, most of questionable quality.

Please feel free to add comments with anything that I missed, or if some of the movies on Tubi turn out to be pretty good.

Using Treasure Hunter Adventures Material in the World of Indiana Jones

Here are some ways to use recent Treasure Hunter Adventures supplements and scenarios in the world of Indiana Jones.

Generic Heroes

These print-and-play characters work just as well in the 1930s as they do in the modern day, with the possible exception of the Technician. Even so, if that character functions more as a mechanic, then it can work, too.

The Shrine of the Sybil

The notion of exploring tunnels and caverns beneath Rome takes on added drama if there are Nazis present in the city, as during the build-up to World War II, or if the Allies are bombing it. The heroes could be racing to finish this adventure as the bombs are falling!

Past, Present and Future

The events of this scenario are affected in the same way as The Shrine of the Sybil, above.

The Reckoning

The finale for the Apotheosis Campaign ties up any loose ends from previous adventures, and so it is limited only by what has happened during previous scenarios.

Apotheosis Campaign Guide

Limitations do not apply to this supplement, which just provides guidance for running the scenarios in the campaign.

Curses!

This shot supplement is not affected by time period.

OSS Report on the Invisible College

The OSS came into existence at the start of World War II, meaning that it wasn't around during the time period of the first three films. In Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, however, it is revealed that Indy and Mac worked for the OSS, and they would have been active during the period depicted early in Dial of Destiny. In fact, Basil Shaw could be a member of the Invisible College!

The Ship in the Ice

This shot supplement is not affected by time period.

Artifacts & Enigmas of the American Revolution

All of the historical events related to the relics and puzzles in this supplement have happened by the time Indy is born. It is fun to imagine, though, the excitement that could arise regarding these items after the events in Dial of Destiny, when an old but not retired Indy is present for the bicentennial celebration of American independence, before and during 1976.

Ritual Magic

This short supplement is not affected by time period.

Artifacts & Enigmas of the Knights Templar

Similarly, this supplement is chock full of material that would fit easily into adventures and campaigns. Additionally, the Templars can be an additional faction that is involved in the conflict. They might be seeking revenge against the Vatican, or they could be promoting the fighting in general and taking advantage of it in order to acquire relics and lore for themselves.

Pandemonium

Because it assumes that adventures and campaigns are using the High Magic style of play, and focuses on demons, this supplement may not be appropriate for the world Indiana Jones.

Because It Was the 80s

Apparently, if you released a treasure hunter movie in 1985, then you had to make a music video for it, too.

When the Going Gets Tough

This song plays during the end credits from Jewel of the Nile, and the phrase itself is a them throughout the film.

The Goonies R Good Enough

This song takes it to a whole other level by combining Cyndi Lauper, WWF Superstars, and a favorite film from my childhood.

Indiana June 2024-25

 For the past few year's I've been in the habit of blogging about Indiana Jones during the month of June. It started in 2021, which marked the fortieth anniversary of Raiders of the Lost Ark. In 2024 I had a lot of family stuff happening, and so did manage to post anything. This year I intend to make up for that. In fact, the combination of these two years makes for a starting theme, since the years 1984-85 brought a wave of treasure hunter movies that seemed like they wanted to ride the wave of Raiders' popularity.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)

I wrote a “Watching Again” post about this movie back in 2023, during the lead-up to Dial of Destiny arriving in theaters (https://d20pirates.blogspot.com/2023/06/watching-again-indiana-jones-and-temple.html). Since then, however, I've read a number of articles calling out its racist character depictions and White Savior narrative.

Romancing the Stone (1984)

Whereas The Goonies definitely appeals to the kid in me, this one has grown on me as I've gotten older. Here are a few reasons why.

• The chemistry between Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner, as Jack Colton and Joan Wilder, is great. As much as I like that of Harrison Ford and Karen Allen in Raiders, this takes it to a whole other level.

• Danny DeVito makes a great foil for them, too. He is a villain, yes, but a likable one—especially when his character Ralph is contrasted with his on-screen brother, Ira.

• The prize in this story, a huge emerald shaped like a heart, is not so interesting, in my opinion. That's not important, however, since what matters is the goals of the protagonists that matter. Jack wants to buy a boat and sail around the world; Joan is looking for real-life romance. In chasing after the stone, they find those things.

• There are good action sequences, none of them too grandiose, but executed well.

• The ending of this story just feels good.

The Jewel of the Nile (1985)

This movie has not aged as well as its predecessor, and here's why.

• This movie quickly undoes a lot of what the heroes accomplished in the first movie. Normally that would bother me, but they do it so quickly that the I don't have much time to think about it.

• The plot involves a mishmash of Arab, Egyptian and Muslim elements, all taking place in “Africa” somewhere. This is another example of someone writing a story and wanting to use the feel of a culture without actually representing that culture accurately.

• To its credit, the story tries to do something different, making a twist on the hunt for a valuable gem by having the Jewel be a person.

• The jet scene is fun. It strikes me as something that the players in an RPG session would actually try to do.

• The heroes' visit to the Nubians doubles down on cultural mishmash. We end up with a fight for Joan's hand, and end with a dance party. Again, it would be nice if they tried to represent the culture accurately.

• I do like the finale. The notion of hiring a rock concert producer to stage manage Omar's political rally makes for a great backdrop, and there's plenty of opportunity for exciting action.

The Goonies (1985)

Here are my thoughts.

• The opening sequence of this film provides a great chance to introduce each character, giving a little insight into their backgrounds and recent activities.

• This whole thing is a chase that lasts about a day, moving through a mapped location that is filled with puzzler, traps, discoveries and other details. It would be interesting to try writing—and running—a scenario like this.

• The subplot about losing their homes adds to the drama, much like the characters' goals did in Romancing the Stone. A pirate ship and treasure is cool in its own right, but the fact that they're fighting against rich developers makes it even sweeter.

• These are fun villains, too. Robert Davi, Joe Pantoliano and Anne Ramsey would each make for a memorable bad guy in their own right; together they are quite the ensemble.

• This all sets up a slam-bang ending, with not one but two great moments: first, Rosalita finds what's in the marble bag; and second, One-Eyed Willy's pirate ship goes on one last cruise.

King Solomon's Mines (1985)

I might look at this movie in a later post. For now, however, I'm not willing to pay the money to rent or buy it.

Pandemonium

Happy Free RPG Day! This two-page supplement presents stats for three different types of demons, for use with Treasure Hunter Adventures and the Savage Worlds RPG.

Pandemonium

Artifacts & Enigmas of the Knights Templar

 Now available from DrivethruRPG.com is Artifacts & Enigmas of the Knights Templar. 

-Nate

This supplement, for use with Treasure Hunter Adventures and the Savage Worlds RPG, presents a history of the organization, five new prizes, two puzzles, stats for characters of every Rank, half a dozen plot hooks, and layouts and descriptions for a chapter house and a stronghold. 

Artifacts & Enigmas of the Knights Templar