Return to the Purple Planet
by Harley Stroh
The Purple Planet is one of the most popular settings for DCC RPG. Though long out of print, a new edition will be crowdfunded in February 2024! Make sure to follow the new project here so you get the exclusive early-backer content. And be sure to see the latest video discussion about the Purple Planet with Michael Curtis and setting creator Harley Stroh. Harley is here to re-introduce us all to the Purple Planet, starting with this essay…
Welcome to the Purple Planet, the most forbidding of our thousand insane worlds thus far. Where a weirdling sun casts its baleful rays over desolate wastes, mushroom forests, and chiseled peaks; where warbands of fierce kith warriors wage eternal war at the behest of hateful masters; and shifting sands hide terrors to devour the headstrong and foolish.
Those same sands conceal mighty artifacts and relics from an age of wonders: fabled greenstones, imbued with the might of arch wizards; gleaming armor that can turn aside any blow; brilliant swords that blaze with the blinding light of the sun, and deadly lances that gout black rays, reducing foes to ash.
Foremost, the Purple Planet offers adventure. Here there are no safe havens, no inns with crackling hearths, or welcoming caravanserais offering shelter against the hordes of chaos. Any respite must be won, by blade or high sorcery, for the planet itself offers no quarter.
Whether plumbing the depths of long forgotten tombs, leading hordes of marauding kith into battle against fearsome death orms, or testing relics from another age, characters will need to be both clever and courageous in turn to survive their Adventures on the Purple Planet.
Adventures on the Purple Planet marks the return to our classic sword-and-planets setting. Inspired by the interplanetary adventures of John Carter of Mars and Esau Cairn of Almuric, the Purple Planet offers expansive new vistas to players and judges alike. Herein we present your players with the ultimate sandbox, a setting where PCs can wrench artifacts from the hoary grasp of long-dead tyrants, explore mountaintop tombs, and lead terrible armies in rebellion — the world is theirs to raise up or destroy.
In 2013 we launched our first foray onto the unknown planet. Aided by brilliant explorers like Daniel J. Bishop, Tim Callahan, Edgar Johnson, and Terry Olson, we surveyed ancient ruins, compiled lists of dread foes, took note of the vile ascended masters, and recorded the secrets of the long-lost relics.
Now – a decade later – we return, with a new host of spectacular adventures and supplements by Goodman Games and some of your favorite third-party publishers. Forge new alliances under the weirdling sun, uncover newfound secrets from the planet’s dim past, and raise a banner to your cause!
The wastes thunder with the howl of a rallying warband. The Horde on the Purple Planet is coming …
