Bad Moon Rising
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"The red print on my forehead,
Shall flame for a red star,
In the van of the violent marching, then
When the sky is torn of the trumpets ten,
And the hands of the happy howling men
Fling wide the gates of war.

"This blow that I return not
Ten times will I return
On kings and earls of all degree,
And armies wide as empires be
Shall slide like landslips to the sea
If the red star burn.

(from) The Ballad of the White Horse: Book IV G.K. Chesterton

Basic Information

Bad Moon Rising is a speculative fiction trope. It represents an ill omen of an upcoming epic conflict or disaster - and the disaster is of such magnitude that the skies themselves are altered. This could be the appearance of a new moon, star, or comet, or some significant alteration in an existing celestial body (such as the moon).

Depending on your setting the celestial body may be cause or effect - if you've decided that astrology actually means something in you campaign then a major celestial event will certainly be a big deal, but again, whether the new arrival causes the event or is merely a sign should be resolved.

See Also

Sources

Bibliography

Game and Story Use

  • Consider using this trope when you want to emphasize that something really big is going on.
    • This especially effective when it is unexpected - either because the PCs have no advance knowledge of an impending catastrophe, or if they have had some hints but didn't have any idea that the situation was this bad.
  • Remember that the PCs aren't the only ones seeing such an omen. There is likely to be mass hysteria, cults are going to come out of the woodwork, and the entire world will stop in its daily activities to make sense of it all.
    • If the PCs are (amongst) the only ones who can see it however…
    • If you're cunning, the coming of the comet can be a big part of the story arc … as the campaign begins it's a vague rumour - knowledgeable astronomers have calculated the date and know it is a few years away. Many people who believe that comets are a sign from the gods don't believe that comets can be predicted by humans and either ignore them or make them shut up. But the seed has been planted. Later the PCs may find astrological charts involving the comet in enemy lairs or hear mad prophets ranting about it. With luck they'll start to tie everything that happens into its approach. Whether the comet actually does anything or the disasters are just self-fulfilling prophecy is up to you.
      • Both George Martin's Song of Ice and Fire and Tad Williams' Memory, Sorrow and Thorn cycles feature very prominent comets - and all sorts of events tied to them one way or another…
    • For a possible subversion of the usual trope: The event clearly means something horrible is going to happen. It doesn't say whether that horrible thing is going to happen to the forces of Good or Evil. Does the eclipse mean disaster for the PCs, or doom to their enemies? It clearly means something terrible, but terrible for whom? (As always in any kind of conflict, though, the answer could well be "yes".)
  • The moon "Morrslieb" of Warhammer Fantasy fulfills this function. It's always a Bad Moon Rising when it grows large in the sky, since Morrslieb is a "bad moon" by its very definition. And when it starts to leer at you, you should really start to worry…
  • Certain malevolent forces may have powers that wax and wane with certain celestial phenomena
    • The classic example of this is the werewolf
    • Another example is from the TV series Avatar: The Last Airbender. The Fire Nation uses a type of magic that is aspected towards the sun; so when the sun is eclipsed by the moon, their powers are weakened. Conversely, when a blazing comet appears in the sky, their powers are augmented; and the leader of the Fire Nation times a major invasion with the arrival of such a comet.
      • Similarly, the Water Tribes are bound to the moon; some of the most powerful (and horrific) water techniques are normally only possible under a full moon, and managing to kill the moon de-powers them completely.
      • In the sequel, a Sealed Evil In A Can is released by a specific planetary alignment.
    • The Old Ones are said to only walk the Earth when the stars are right. In the Laundryverse, this specifically means the times that the Earth passes through areas of space where reality is weak and subject to having holes poked in it.
    • More prosaically, the BBEG might simply schedule his most difficult or dangerous work for when his horoscope says his chances are best, or draw on celestial power available during rare cosmic events.
    • Reversing the usual relationship, villains of the power-mad kind might throw around heavenly bodies just to show that they can.
  • There may also be a scientific (or at least a technobabble) reason for such a connection.
    • In The War of the Worlds, the Martian invasion was heralded by flashes of light on the surface of Mars when it was in opposition; because the Martians would naturally launch their attack when the two planets were closest to each other.
    • In the Pern novels by Anne McCaffrey, the planet was ravaged by a plague called the Thread whenever the Red Star shone brightly in the sky; because that "star" was the source of the Thread and it could only migrate to the planet when the Red Star was close in its orbit.
    • In Sid Meir's Alpha Centauri the rogue planet Hercules causes tidal effects and a huge upsurge in the activity of hostile native life every time it passes through perigee relative to Chiron.
    • A celestial object could actually turn out to be a megastructure of some kind … and possibly its movement through perigee could influence events planet side through transmissions, broadcast power activating previously dormant facilities or even probes/away teams being landed, depending on who or what is left on the megastructure.
    • Reversing causation could also help - the celestial "sign" may generate a blast wave or rain of debris which could have interesting effects on the surface…
  • A comet that means nothing in particular would be an interesting subversion.
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