The Therevion -Derro Attack Spiders - They want to carve you up!

No. Enc.: 1-6
Alignment:Inimical
Move: 120'(40’)
Armor Class: 7
Hit Dice: 5
Attacks: 3
Damage: 1d8
Morale: 7

These eight legged alien gene modified terrors are the bane of those who encounter the Derro. These creatures make short work of those who encounter them with surgical bio pincers & the delicate touch of  an artistic surgeon. These make jack the ripper look nice. They're cold white hairy bodies holds nothing but terror for those who are able to see through their cloak of super science power - Cloak of The Insane. This allows the spiders to exist just outside of normal space time until they are needed by their masters. They materialize within 2 round from the edges of a room or space.
They gain three attacks per round because of their half existing nature, the speed of their cuts isn't felt for a moment or two.The vicitims react as if nothing is wrong even as their torso slides off the excess skin. These monsters often store organs, vitals, etc for later surgical cataloging. The Derro make use of these bits & pieces in the horror show of the "technology".
The spiders often scout ahead of the Derro ships & can often be found in space wreckage & other out of the way areas. The spiders never consume any recovered items themselves. In fact no one is sure what these creatures actually eat. They will however capture & destroy anyone or anything at the bidding of their masters!

X Plorers Box Set Review !

I've been slowly reading the old school goodness that is the X -Plorers box set. The artwork is very cool right off the bat & lets take this from the top shall we!

Info from BHP site on the Limited Boxed Set (200 count):

• 6″ x 9″ Game Box (This is an actual game box manufactured for just this purpose and both the top and the bottom are tight-wrapped) hand numbered from 1-200 by the head halfling himself! The packaging on the game was very tight & it's cool that everything I need to play a game of X Plorers is right in one box. I do mean everything. Its tight not tightly packed in there so that you guides & stuff are swooshed. It all right at the the dungeon master's finger tips. 
• The game looks old school, as if it came out of a time capsule from the early 80s. This is a good thing
• The presentation is elegance & class as a throw back to when gaming was simple, cool, & fun. 
• 2  Rule Booklets (Player’s Guide and Referee’s Guide)
  Player's Guide does an excellent no non-sense job of presenting the character generation system & giving all of the options for PC classes right there. The soldier, the scout, the scientist, & the technician. Since this is a D20 based system everything is straight forward. Referee’s Guide This everything you need to run X -Plorers under one cover literally. From the encounters, maps out the Dungeon Masters job, to the game's monsters, everything including optional rules systems are right at your finger tips! 
• This is an exciting product in my opinion & one that's needed on the market! This might seem like its a sort of gonzo style game. Its not, its a throw back to a time when gaming was fun as well as interesting & intelligent. 
• Cleopatra Station Free Adventure- This is a dungeon crawl in space but a dungeon crawl that reminds me of some of the better Metamorphosis Alpha games we've had. The characters are straight up fun. The situation is one that has occurred a thousand times before in other science fiction movies but this is a product that excels at echoing that feeling of grab some popcorn & lets play! The adventure is simple, easy, & balanced! 
• 3 six-sided and 1 twenty-sided dice-  The dice are cool. They're not Game Science but their very nice dice & again its cool to have everything right at your finger tips. Its all there ready to go right now! 
• 2 Ship Deck plans of the Serrona Class Scout and the Mastodon Class Freighter- There's a very nice little star ship combat engine inside this game. The system plays smoothly & its well balanced for a minimalist game! Everything is there, the plans are great & provide a dungeon master with some interesting opinions as far as adventuring location, hooks, etc. The maps for detail give just enough to let the eye wander without crowding or cramming every little detail in. System - The system is very tight. Character generation shouldn't take more then 10 minutes to 20 minutes max if you've read the rules. The game shines here too presenting quick & easy options, this is old school gaming at its best. 
  Brave Halfling's Publishing I feel that Brave Halfling has done a kick ass job of putting this game together. The package is worth the money that was spent on it. It was worth the wait. It looks like a fun product & I want to actually play the game & not let it sit on a shelf. The X-Plorers set is worth the entrance price & delivers what it promises on the box !
  
  
  Order Here

SPACE-FANTASY CASTLE INHABITANTS TABLE

There's this great Space Fantasy Table I tripped over while visiting Planet Algol. This is really written for a "gonzo" style campaign in the vein of  a trippy Mutant Future game or Encounter Critical. In other words the thing is really awesome & you should check it out & download it ! Here

 Yeah its sort of like the above illustration! Enjoy I thought the author did a good job with it! 

Actual Play Thursday -Screen In The Knight

So tonight was one of those lets wrap up all of the dangling plot hooks from the last game. The middle of the campaign games where exciting stuff happens buts its about this big. Irving was put into cryo sleep as my other half won't be back until February.
 The game got our group's bug fighter finishing his assassin mission while the rest of the party got down & dirty with a side adventure aboard a mining ship that was strange.
The astronaut & his knight bride soon learned that someone was using an interocitor mind control the entire ship & as soon as the party arrived the NPC folded himself into thought space*.  The bastard left a retainer behind & the things got messy from there. 
The other pcs were busy with projects from last game & went on with them. Among them are analyzing plans found from previous encounters & engagements with various groups. The retainer left behind took a hostage aboard the mining ship which was the rival household of the PC's bride to be.He wanted a ship & pilot. The PC's set him up as his escort there. They played the pilots & took him out to his destination a small plantetoid in nowhere of space. 
 Once in orbit they scanned him in route. The man was full of bio explosives! Some very clever role playing & some very good dice rolls later they were able to convince him that they had valuable cargo aboard. 
 Then they jettisoned him into space. 
The planetoid itself harbored further secrets in the form of a small drone saucer ship. There was only one chair aboard & a simple wire guide receiver. The party tried to target the drive system of the saucer & merely blew it up! 

What they did do was too look over the remains of the drone saucer. They came across a strange metal box which was scanned by the PCs. Inside was the fried remains of a Derro Head of Truth & Knowledge Link heads-of-knowledge.html
    A pretty short game with interesting stuff happening. I'll go over thought space in the morning. Good night folks! More To Come, Stay Tuned! 

Thursday Night Actual Play

More thrills, Chills, & Strange goings on as the players have another exciting adventure! A report on tonight game soon! 

The Chrono worm - The Unavathamazgo They're Stealing Away Your Life One Moment At A Time

I have harnessed the shadows that stride from world to world to sow death and madness...

H.P. Lovecraft

"From Beyond"

Large

No. Enc.: 1d3
Alignment:Inimical
Move: 120'(40’)
Armor Class: 6
Hit Dice: 6
Attacks: 3
Damage: 1d8 (plus special) barbed tongue
Morale: 10 


 There are those who play with time travel in the annals of  the epoch of the Human Space Empire & though they know a bit about the angles of time with the invention of the Three Light Drive.  These things dwell along the edges of the the angles of time. They feed off & lust after the essence of one's soul & those who emotions echo through time. 
They in turn feed the Hounds_of_Tindalos but those are far worse then these creatures. For these feed on the seconds, minutes, & hours  of a person's soul bit by bit & drop by drop as time drips away into eternity.  They will appear from any colored surface around a person but can't pass through the color black for it reminds them of the great betrayal.  
 The future & the past are nothing to them as the plunge from world to world following in the wake of  the Outer Gods & the Great Old Ones. 
  A person may catch a blue flicker in a mirror followed by the opening of their mouths & sting of their barbed tongue  as it lashes into the back of one. 

Some super science powers will keep the 12 foot long monsters at bay but they will know the next moment to strike & travel there. Once hit a person must save versus poison or roll 1d20 every 6 rounds to see how many years from your life you lose as the worm devours them. The chrono poison coursing through one calls to the lean & hungry hounds. They will sense it as a dinner bell in the dark of space & come nosing through time that is unless the worms get you first. The poison can be tracked through time & space itself & only a barrier of aluminum will stop the signal. A fine powder of the substance will stop it for a time but then another saving throw must be rolled. A vicious cycle indeed. 
 There are reports of some scientists who can cure this poison but the cost is very high indeed.  A specially tuned z ray rifle may slow these creatures down or destroy them but the modifications are known to very few fanatics & madmen on Terra Entra III. The world slowly out of sink with the rest of the universe. 

A new friend gave me this link on Face book & I wanted to share the Lovecraftian madness.

Weird & dreamlike this is a very cool video 

X - plorers Box Set Un-boxing

Very Excited By The Little box of awesomeness that arrived in the mail today! Check it out! Brave Halfling did an excellent job with this!

The Renegade Sporcery Guild - The Caruano-natis

 The Caruano-natis

They are the devil's own the Caruano-natis, those of a different bent then the Spocery Guild proper. They are like the members of a family who are never spoken of ever. The organization recruits on worlds where there is nothing left to live for & life is cheaper then dirt. The group is part family, part religion, & all bad in a way that twists nature around their little fungal fingers. 

Decay & death are their stock for which tyrants, dictators, & pirates pay. They believe that the grey legions as they see their masters as are the final answer of entropy. The fly that buzzes around the ears of the gods as the universe burns. They want to help you, help it there. 

Just outside of  many space ports on the outer fringes of the universe  the Caruano-natis's agents can be found  lurking waiting to make a deal on their deadly wares !
 

Fungal Bio Horror  Technology  

Soul Rot  - This fungal strain from the deepest pits of Uranus  & beyond  will spread across a world as nothing else. It eats & infects all. At the height of its plague, the rot will send a telepathic message into the ether calling down an Outer God. Anyone infected must make a save vs poison or develop hives, oozing sores, glowing eyes. They'll be at -1 for all Dex rolls. Super Science Powers will cure the infected. All this for 100 credits a vial 

Night Glow - The night glow is a fungus that pulses with strange, eledrith radiations  &  spreads rapidly across plant life. Those trees & such that it infects glow with the energies it collects from across the cosmos. The stuff deals a 1d3 points of damage to each round to those  exposed to it. The stuff raises a little planar hell & will shift a planet into a planar pocket abyss in 1d20 days after the initial infection ! The stuff will interfere with many Super Science Powers. 200 credits per vial 

Death's Angel -  The death's angel is a hell weapon  & will create a planetary telepathic field but each person infected with it in a hellish illusionary world. The fungus will destroy the centers of the human & near human brain centers that distinguish reality from fantasy. The stuff will enable all to communicate but twist the sensory stimuli to their greatest fears. The infected must make a save vs poison or become trapped within their own minds & be at a -3 for all skill rolls.300 credits per vial

Flesh Flayers - Strip an entire world down to its essence within hours. This fungus does exactly that as it travels across the jet streams & does 1d3 points of damage per round. It eats everything from wood to organics. This stuff is considered a curse from beyond. Many worlds have a bounty on those that use this stuff of 2000 credit. Its about 100 credits a vial

Passage Through The Planar Underworld - Need to get from one point in the universe to another while by passing conventional urban centers. The Caruano-natis will use the back stage passages through strange alien forgotten heavens & hells enabling you to get where you need to be. They make no claim on your sanity & soul however. The passage is about 600 credits per voyage unless your going to cause maximum carnage & destruction then its only 200. Guaranteed over night delivery 

Fungus God Root -   Those planets stupid enough to deal with The Caruano-natis are in for a surprise as the bastards plant this stuff across a world. The stuff is the fungus that grows upon the terrible pilgrimage to seek the nighted throne of the far daemon-sultan Azathoth. The stuff will burst forth upon the next cycle of the nighted gates & let loose the Fungus Gods. The gods will capture & destroy anything that they can get a hold of.
Large

No. Enc.: 1d20
Alignment: Neutral Inimical
Move: 120'(40’)
Armor Class: 6
Hit Dice: 6
Attacks: 3
Damage: 1d8 (plus special)
Morale: 9

Those hit by the tentacles of these monsters will be shot through with the tearing micro beaked mouths of the monsters. They will also be injected with a fungus rot that will eat their brains unless a save vs death is made. The Fungus Gods will eventually within 1d20 days sing to Outer Gods & call them to the infected planet where he will devour the whole thing.

[O]utside the ordered universe [is] that amorphous blight of nethermost confusion which blasphemes and bubbles at the center of all infinity—the boundless daemon sultan Azathoth, whose name no lips dare speak aloud, and who gnaws hungrily in inconceivable, unlighted chambers beyond time and space amidst the muffled, maddening beating of vile drums and the thin monotonous whine of accursed flutes.

War Of The World Goliath Update

Just a quick reminder trailer of the movie

Well there are a few new details about the film first its going to be rated a solid R which is as it should be. The running time will be about 82 minutes  & it looks spectacular. 

The mechs, technology, steampunk, airplanes, & the look of the world are solid but it will be interesting to see were they go with the characters.

The Heavy Metal Fan Page has most of the awesome artwork above right Here

The behind the scenes give more away in terms of where their going with the production 

Watch that right here

 There's also an interview with the creators here 

Realm of Toys Joe Pearson Interview

War of The Worlds Goliath & The OSR 

Don't these people scream adventurer party? 

Take your favorite OSR game system & add War Of The Worlds Goliath then stand back. Personally I'd use  Mutant Future for the campaign itself. The setting easily lends itself to the sort of game that we're used to seeing in the world of  Future. Not quite standard technology, steampunk New York. 

The world is begging to be adapted & as I covered in the last War Of The World Goliath Entry. There are all sorts  of goodies laying about in the public domain that can even make a good replacement 

for this world. 

The biggest factor seems to be the Martian technology which has a strange acceleration effect on alternative history worlds.

I think that the Old School Heretic blog did a way better job of covering Well's technology then I ever could. 

principles-of-martian-technology

One thing I've noticed is that in each & every instance that the Martians appear horror seems to follow in their wake
I think that in each & every point that the martians are in an adventure they should really never be explained too much , leave an air of mystery. 

Even with the movie there doesn't seem to be a whole lot about the Martians in the trailers of the movie. Sure there's the walkers & such but nothing is given away about them at all.
More to come folks 

Remember

Random Space Salvage -Treasure Table - D30 Special Alien Artifact Table

There are always the unusual finds the odd adventure makers & this is the goal of this table. Here are few alien artifacts just waiting for the foolish to come across them! 




D30 Special Alien Artifact Table 

1. Artifact of the Krell 
2. Ancient Solar Panels +2 Efficacy 
3. Astro Familiar 4 super science powers 2 foot tall 
4. Alien Escape Pod In A Brief Case 
5. 9 D camera Needs 6 limbs to operate 
6. 2 golden angels held as statues 
7. Lead Coffin 18 foot long 
8. Jewel Encrusted Dagger (Intelligent & Pissed off) 
9. Assassin Droid Folded In 13 Foot Square 
10. Atmosphere Generator Set To Toxic 
11. Nuclear fuel in lead lined containers 
12. 4 Strange humanoid figurines 6" high 
13. 12' tall Vessel filled with liquid glass steel 
14. 6' Long iron bird 
15. 2 Plasma torches 4 foot long 
16. Alien Space Armor (ancient multi -limbed) 
17. Golden Casket 7" by 6" wide glowing 
18. Cargo box containing 22 individual small droids each 2 inches long 
19. Robotic Monkey missing an eye (deactivated) 
20. 9 inch Blue Golden Egg covered in runes 
21. Vicious substance in a stone egg 
22. Robotic Insects (14 each a different alien species) 
23. Credit Reader( Full)
24. Deeds To Several Planets (Demonic Pact Seal On The Documents) 
25. Eye Of A Space Dragon Set In Jewelry 
26. Small Demon Idol 12 inches Tall 
27. Golden Red Jeweled Flower 
28. Amorphous Robotic Blob 
29. Jeweled Termite Statue (or is it 6 inches long) 
30. Black Glowing Ball 12 inches In Diameter 

There are some strange radiations, super science energies, & far worse in the deadly regions of space. There are odd & down right dangerous qualities that some of these objects might have. Roll on the following matrix. Roll twice if your feeling especially malevolent towards your players! 

Human Space Empires Special Artifact Qualities Matrix  Roll 1d20 

1. Grants Telepathy at an Interstellar Range 
2. Creates a Force Screen 4 times per day 
3. Allows Planar Passage 5 times per day 
4. User May Create Zeta Rays 3 times per day as the power 
5. Grants Sight Beyond Sight 
6. Allows Conversation With Small Gods 3 times per day 
7. Grow Demonic Claws +2 to damage 3 times per day (20% planar demon comes to investigate) 
8. Divine glow repels all demonic creatures & causes awe in on lookers 3 times per day 
9.  Grants access to the Intergalactic Library & access to the knowledge their in (20% the user becomes drunk with the knowledge) 
10. Allows the User To have Cosmic Awareness 4 times per day. 
11. Grants a form of serial immortality 
12. Converts the user to a state of temporary state of undeath for 1d4 days per use 
13. Grants the user the services of a planar demon 3 times per day. There is a 10% that a more powerful demon will answer the call 
14. Allows the user to create completely realistic holograms 
15. Cast Stellar Light as a star 4 times per day 
16. Read & speak all known Intergalactic Languages 3 times per day 
17. Phase shift from the local space time continuum 5 times per day 10% chance of  a creature from the Outer Darkness noticing you 
18. Eyes of the Small Gods 3 times per day 
19. Terra form 9 miles around the user 4 times per day 
20. Access to the 6th level Super Science Powers 

Note that there is a 9% chance that each times these powers are used that the user will suffer from a random mutation as the energies that are stored in them are not fit for mere mortals! 

The Thanderalrnch - The Dreaming Beasts Of S'phanac

Small

No. Enc.: 1d6
Alignment:Inimical
Move: 120'(40’)
Armor Class: 9
Hit Dice: 1
Attacks: 2
Damage: 1d4 (plus special)
Morale:4


Within the angles of hyper spacial reality there exists a realm where thought & dream are joined in the timeless void. These float within that moment of foamy existence. The Thanderalrnch are a thought virus that is attracted to the power of  super science abilities. The virus is perhaps the lost part of some Great Old One or Outer God now stretched & destroyed along the lateral axis of pure hyper dimensional reality.
The virus will infect the mind of anyone whose ship's screens aren't attuned to these monstrosities & other vermin. The infected will have many random thoughts not of their own. Only a costly treatment will rid one of these strange creatures available in the very best space ports & medical facilities. Expect to pay in thousands of credits to be rid of this virus of stray thought & rotten creativity.
 Random symptoms chart roll 1d10 

1. Precognition of Murder - All around you each person's thoughts seem to overbleed your own yet twisted with thoughts of pure malice & aggregation. A save vs poison must be rolled or you will be overcome with a murderous rage or sheer beserk towards your nearest & dearest. Last 1d4 rounds only to repeat every 10 rounds 
2. Evil Incarnate - The person is able to make out auras around people but only if their sick & deathly ill. They see all of the evil they have done within their lives as flashes of insight broadcast straight at the infected. They must make an intelligence roll every 4 rounds to know exactly whats happening only to have it happen again. 
3. The Shakes - This psionic condition occurs as a player comes in contact with others. They shake uncontrollably as the thoughts of others cause them to have a strange shaking of the limbs & a slight foaming of the mouth. Save verus poison will avert the condition for a time (1d4 rounds) 
4. Taken For A Ride - The infected finds themselves outside of their own bodies astrally floating in space off  to the left as the body stands & drools slightly. The player must fight his own body's astral defenses to get back into sink with his body. 
5. That's Not Me. Each action taken by the person feels as if its being done by someone else, It feels as if someone is watch just over their shoulder. The truth is that they sometimes are! There are often planar ghosts just itching to get back at the living.  Super science powers may get rid of it, For a time that is
   
6. Crazy Numbers - The infected feel that each & every number they see has a special significance & meaning. They must make a save versus disease or poison or be reducing to a quivering mass of social jelly in 1d4 hours 
7. You've Not Seen Nothing  - The infected can see invisible monsters around everyone. The monsters exist on another vibrational calibration entirely but are quite real to the infected., There is a 20 % that a person who sees these creatures will be subject to fear as per the ability. 
8. Jinks The Clown Condition - The infected thinks their the life of the party & begins to tell random people the most off color jokes possible. The jokes often don't make sense & yet there is a chance that it might have some twisted insight into a future event. The infected has 10% chance of stumbling upon some secret or possible tid bit of hidden information. Each day the infected must make a Constitution roll or be subject to this condition for the day. 
9. Planar Depression - Each time the ship enters hyper dimensional the person is subject to a crushing depression causing a -1 on all rolls. The depression passes at the beginning of another new world. There are those who believe that this condition is actually a bi-product of the original intent of this creature a bio weapon 
10. Planar Teleportation - The infected is yanked in & out of time randomly across the person's life. The person might also appear sometime in the party's past. There's no telling where or when the infected might pop up. 

LV -745 The World Of Storms

Introduction 

There are worlds where mankind wasn't meant to go. Yet they constantly search for another world, & come up with yet another place of horror. LV-745 is one such place a swirling maelstrom of storms & raging weather. 

Yet the place is full of some of the most valuable mineral finds. 

Strange twisted formations of ore & rock simply waiting for the right prospector or so it would seem. 

This is a place where horror lives. 

A Place Of Horror 

The planet is one of raging storms. Storms of nanite dissembler roaring through the air ready to turn anyone into pulp & worse. 

There have been over 43 separate expeditions to the world by the forces of the science institute. Each one encountered the nanites & far worse left behind. 

The world it seems suffered the gray goo situation eons ago but the inhabitants were left behind as body less undead. Monsters waiting, patiently for the right moment to strike. 

Abandon Places 

Scattered across the surface of  the planet are city after city abandon & waiting with many valuable treasures simply waiting for the adventous & the foolish. 

 

1d10 Table of Undead  roll 1d6 for #

1. Ghosts 
2. Wraiths 
3. Radioactive Phantoms 
4. Spectres
5. Gaseous Demon 
6. Formless Weeping Blobs 
7. Boneless Zombies
8. Planar Demons Of Death 
9. Crying Ghasts 
10. Boneless Repeaters 

Each Nanite storm stretches for 1d4 miles & does 1d6 points of damage per round to those exposed to it. Force fields & Super Science Powers will keep the storms at bay for awhile. The nanites don't bother the undead as they don't register upon the monsters sensors! 

The Egthotho - Primordial Ghastly Offspring

Medium sized 


No. Enc.: 1d10
Alignment: Inimical 
Movement: 120’ (40’)
Armor Class: 5  
Hit Dice: 3
Attacks: 4 
Damage: 1d8 stinging tentacles 
Morale: 9


The fearless macro parasite found within the Outer Darkness, this creature is often found at the site of  planar summonings lingering & waiting for the unwary & careless to blunder into their tentacles. The creatures living with in the flesh of the Outer Gods. The horror lives inside the intestines of infected humans or other animals with its young & bursts forth after 4 days of infection. 
 The monsters hang out in astral space ready to faze in & attack with its four lashing tentacles at the drop of a hat. The monsters may be kept at bay with super science powers easily. The creatures may be tempted with a sacrifice of blood & flesh. The creatures will answer within 1d4 rounds & 1d10 of the beasts will present themselves. 
The monsters make excellent guardians & servants waiting for the right moment to strike at looters & salvagers.

The macro parasites found within the flesh of an Outer God! Waiting for the call from the summoner!