This pleases me. I've been frustrated that the Indiana Jones movies have been unavailable to stream recently, but now they're coming to Disney+ on May 31st. What is more, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles have not been available for a long time.
-Nate
Last summer I posted a series of nine articles on this blog to mark the fortieth anniversary of Raiders of the Lost Ark being released in theaters. This year I'll post just one to mark the day, June 12th.
-Nate
Indiana Jones and the Mystery of the Blues is a feature-length TV movie set in Chicago in 1920—told as a flashback while an older Indy and his friend Greycloud are working to recover a pipe this is sacred to Greycloud's people. That business serves as a frame, then, for Indy's story about how, while attending the University and working as a waiter, helped investigate the murder of his employer, “Big” Jim Colosimo. In this tale Indy reveals that his college roommate was none other than the up-and-coming crimefighter, Elliot Ness. This is nine years before Ness and his associates would manage the arrest of gangster Al Capone, as depicted in the film The Untouchables among other places.
All of this came to mind recently while I was paging through a little book called Lost Treasures of American History, a little hardcover book by W.C. Jameson. The final chapter of the book tells the story of the gangster “Dutch” Schultz, who accumulated millions of dollars' worth of cash, bonds, jewelry, diamonds and gold through his criminal enterprises throughout the 1920s and 1930s. The story goes that—as the authorities and his criminal rivals were closing in on his operations—he and an associate, Lulu Rosencranz, buried an iron chest containing much of this wealth outside the town of Phoenicia, Connecticut. Eventually the rivals caught up to both of those men and gunned them down in cold blood; they took the secret location of the buried loot to their graves.
With all of this in mind, it's fun to imagine how Indy and Ness would go about hunting for that cache of loot—and to wonder which crime bosses would send their minions in pursuit of it, too.
The previous post suggested which Archetypes from Treasure Hunter Adventures would fit the heroes from Raiders of the Lost Ark. GMs and players can also combine archetypes to create more advanced characters, especially for parties small parties who still want to cover the whole variety of skills and abilities that might be required when hunting for a treasure. Detailed below are two examples of this.
-Nate
Indy
Archetypes: Retrieval Specialist and Scholar
Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d8, Spirit d6, Strength d6, Vigor d6
Skills: Academics d8, Athletics d6, Common Knowledge d4, Driving d4, Fighting d6, Language d8, Notice d6, Occult d6, Persuasion d4, Research d8, Shooting d6, Stealth d8, Thievery d8
Pace: 8, Parry: 5, Toughness: 5
Edges: Alertness, Calculating, Fleet-Footed, Scholar
Hindrances: Phobia (Major)
Archetypes: Holy Person and Guide
Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d6, Spirit d8, Strength d6, Vigor d8
Skills: Academics d6, Athletics d4, Boating d4, Common Knowledge d6, Driving d4, Faith d8, Fighting d6, Healing d6, Language d4, Notice d6, Persuasion d8, Riding d6, Shooting d6, Stealth d4, Survival d6
Pace: 6, Parry: 5, Toughness: 5
Edges: Arcane Background (Miracles), Connections, Quick, Woodsman
Hindrances: Code of Honor
Special Abilities
Power Points: 10; Powers: Boost/lower Trait, deflection, protection
Continuing the lead-up to the fortieth anniversary of Raiders, here are links to three different Youtube options for watching the rather short-live prequel series, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. Personally, I hope these episodes eventually find their way onto Disney+.
-Nate
