Episode 33 Lady in Distress with a Short Interview with Mike Carr

In this episode Bill, Edwin, and Lou discuss the classic Top Secret module, TS003: "Lady in Distress."  This GenCon XIV tournament module features a cruise ship taken over by terrorists who are after a secret bio weapon smuggled on board by a rogue Spanish scientist.  BUT FIRST: Mike Carr - TSR legend and co-writer of this adventure - spends some of his afternoon with us answering a few questions about the module.  Bill is in the hot seat for Geek Credit and the mailbag doth provide...  Below we have some bonus anecdotes from Merle Rasmussen the OG Admisstrator and founder of the Top Secret game.  We are looking to have both him and Mike back for full-length episodes.

Mr. Rasmussen: "(Mike) and I are long-time friends. Mike was working for TSR before I submitted modern espionage rules. We wrote letters to each other (before the internet) and I sent him a copy of my rules with the working title SPY WORLD (inspired by GAMMA WORLD). Mike sent me the note from Gary Gygax, “Accept this MS [manuscript] as soon as it is typed.” I then hired typists to complete the work. Mike and I independently filed the rules under “TOP SECRET.” When we discovered this coincidence, it was obvious the game should be titled, TOP SECRET®!

I wrote a module to be included in the TOP SECRET® COMPANION. It involved terrorists using Carbonophage Microbes to destroy the carbon-carbon reinforced surfaces of the Space Shuttle. I was paid by TSR, unfortunately, they would hold my product for a year. Space Shuttle Challenger exploded seconds after liftoff killing all crew members on board. This is the problem writing contemporary role-playing games-- reality sometimes catches up.

I also submitted material for TOP SECRET: NEW WORLD ORDER® that ended up on the cutting room floor. Good news! Last night I saw editing on HACKNOIA® GONZO MODERN Role-Playing Game by Jolly Blackburn and Merle M. Rasmussen. SOLARIAN GAMES hopes to publish the conspiracy, supernatural, and espionage rules. They signed a licensing agreement with KENZER & COMPANY years ago. Jolly is a fan of TOP SECRET® and spoofed my serious spy game in his Knights of the Dinner Table® cartoons calling it HACKNOIA®. I suggested we create HACKNOIA® for real. Players create characters like James Bond, but play them like Maxwell Smart. He said he couldn’t write rules. I told him I couldn’t draw comics. We shook on the deal. SOLARIAN GAMES must be nearing completion. They are on their third editor and they politely asked me to stop writing! " -more to come from Mr. Rasmussen in future episodes!