Monday, September 30, 2013

Quick Commentary On S3 'Expedition To The Barrier Peaks' Adventure



There are few modules that say 'Old School First Edition AD&D' as much as this module. No other module is as popular or polarizes the DM's and players as much as this one.
Why? Because of the science fictional elements in this one and it happens to be one my all time favorite modules almost hands down.
The plot according to wiki: 
"It takes place on a downed spaceship; the ship's crew has died of an unspecified disease, but functioning robots and strange creatures still inhabit the ship. The player characters fight monsters and robots, and gather the futuristic weapons and colored access cards that are necessary for advancing the story" 


Delving further into the back story as it takes place in the world of Greyhawk : 

"In the adventure's introduction, it is explained that the Grand Duchy of Geoff is under constant attack by a succession of monsters that have been emerging from a cave in the mountains. The Grand Duke of Geoff has hired the characters to discover the origin of the creatures, and stop their incursions."
I've had a conversation with friends this evening about this module and I have very fond memories about it. Both playing it as a player and running it as a dungeon master. This module has everything you could want from a science fantasy module. Everything from James Ward Gamma World to Gary Gygax in full fun house mode. 
Did I mention Veggie Pygmies? Androids, robots, power armor, laser pistols, mind flayers and need I go on. 
 


This module introduces a possible other worldly origin for many of the usual AD&D monster suspects including 'Mind Flayer' but as we've seen in the pages of Dragon this is perhaps one possible explanation for its origins. That wonderful monster goes back all the way to S&T magazine.
 
Lets not get into the frog mouth and that damn rabitoid on the stump that killed poor 'Gregory The Just' my 8th level paladin. 

Further Thoughts and Notes on Expedition 

 I ran this bad boy a little while back HERE  & tonight talking with players over at my house this evening they want me to run this one again. So I would say a big yes to it being relevant.
There are a few things I've got from tonight's conversation along with comments :
  1. This module was released along with others in the 'S' series - Which according to wiki - 'In 1980, the updated version was published as Expedition to the Barrier Peaks. At the time of Expedition to the Barrier Peaks's release, each Dungeons & Dragons module was marked with an alphanumeric code indicating the series to which it belonged.[10] The 32-page adventure bears the code S3 ("S" for "special").
    When Metamorphosis Alpha was updated and expanded into Gamma World, it seemed the right time for Gygax to reintroduce Expedition to the Barrier Peaks to the public. Said Gygax, "What could be more logical than to make available a scenario which blends the two role playing approaches into a single form?"[5]:2 Gygax updated the scenario to Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D) rules, hoping it could serve as a primer on how to integrate science into one's fantasy role playing game
    Basically this module could be run if one were to alter it back to back with say either Gamma World or Metamorphis Alpha First Edition allowing one to use the events prior to the crash and after said crash to do a sort of strange Mayfair Keep adventure. The players playing both roles to give a total history of the Warden. 
  2. Look I loath Wiz Bros with all of my being but they did release a very cool map of the Expediation to the Barrier Peaks map that includes many of the major plot points of the adventure. This allows a DM to have an overview of all the major events of the module. Available right over HERE
  3. Folks are very divided on the module because of the science fantasy elements and artifacts of the adventure but as I pointed out the artifacts will quickly run out of charge. 
  4. The robots don't leave the ship unless the DM wants them too and the invasive species are really nasty allowing the DM to introduce other monsters into their version of Greyhawk. These could keep a party busy for years to come. 


5. Because this is such a polarizing adventure its really easy to get players hyped to play that scoff at the adventure. Of course the science fantasy elements are silly and your PC is cool enough to survive but what if he's not?
6. Players aren't quite as knowledgeable up on the module as they like to pretend they are and boy does that make it easy as a DM to introduce a bit of random or special encounters.

7. As it was pointed out to me this evening, this is a perfect module to get the party into space!


Because after all why wouldn't there be a search effort mission  if the DM wants one to be. Night of the Comet folks? 

8. There could be return missions to gain some insight into the reasons for the ship's crash? Perhaps that mysterious plague isn't simply confined to the ship? Could the PC's become carriers for a mysterious illness and walking disease vectors unknowingly?
Perhaps the 'cure' is only found aboard. 

9. Given the history of the star ship the whole thing might be one toxic waste dump waiting to happen. Perhaps not only could there be the monsters but mutation spilling out into the campaign world meaning another trip into the bowels of the cavernous death trap. 

10. Given the nature of some of the retroclones on the market like Mutant Future, Labyrinth Lord and many others this module suddenly gains a bit more of a venue as the perfect cross over module for moving back and forth from one game system to another!
In closing I'm thinking about running this adventure as one of my possible mid winter mini campaigns with friends once again allowing me to mix and match the science fantasy/D&D goodness!
Game on!
 Much of tonight's entry came from the wiki entry right
HERE
 The Pdf of 
Metamorphosis Alpha 1st Edition which will be getting a work out as well is available right over
HERE
But I'd wait till it goes on sale.

Which Literary Science Fiction Villain I'm I Ripping Off For My Space Tyrant NPC?

For a time Ming The Merciless owned the Eye of Amagotto. 
  1. This cybernetic warrior of olde clings to his religion and hides the bitter truths of his past. A semi tragic figure who is none the less a complete bastard. 
  2. A man of mystery from some Oriental style world who fancies himself a god and controls a vast criminal empire! 
  3. A small worldy despot who controls a country on a small planet in the SK system through superior technology. A dangerous and willful opponent whose ambitions knows no bounds. 
  4. This mutated semi divine god emperor controls a small corner of reality and is able to see into many universes at once. A real worm of a man and his empire depends upon his total control. 
  5. A total bastard of a CEO of a mega-corporation who controls all of reality but even he can not defeat Death and it is coming for him! Perhaps the aliens can extend his life if only he could find them. 
  6. A maker of androids and robots whose toys only have a four year life span. A man at the top of his pyramid whose ambitions have eclipsed his world. 
  7. A Space going vampire lord whose species is dying and who will do everything within his power to preserve them. 
  8. A spurred demi goddess who still pines for her god but has the power of the divine to add to her magic. She is a manipulator extraordinaire but there is a tinge of regret about her. 
  9. This mad, dangerous, titan strides among the stars and none shall stay his path. He is a lover of Death and controls many,many, dimensions as well as the souls of his followers. 
  10. A stone faced monster of a god whose work and work could be one of the very bowels of hell itself but he is the child of those who who have come before him. 
  11. A being of the power cosmic borne before this universe and beyond. An eater of worlds and maker of weapons as well as heralds. Not a being to be trifled with at all. 
  12. A monster god of interstellar proportions whose eyes open into the blackest hells of the lost universes and worlds. Capable of anything and beyond. 
  13. A thief, a stainless steel rat among the rabble of time, space, and lost dimensions. Lock up your daughters and your valuables. 
  14. A warrior striding down through the ages moving from place to place planet to planet. This psycho has bedded his own mother. 
  15. You shall knee before this despot god with super strength and the wisdom of the ages! All will kneel before me! 
  16. This messiah is on a crusade among the stars to lead humanity to its next evolutionary stage driven by a drug and his own divine right of success! 
  17. A time lost sorceress who has slept with her own brother created gods, destroyed kingdoms, and forged empires! She is the hand of gods and the plaything of fate as well as hell. A mage and psychic of the first order. 
  18. One of a race of immortals who turned on his fellows of godlike power this being hides on a low level world of fantasy until he can regain his power once again. 
  19. This bandage clad immortal lich from beyond the pail of mankind seeks to assent to godhood once again but is alone and seeks allies. He has a thing for cats. 
  20. This demon of the night, this lord of evil extends his rule over all undead and monsters but with the coming of dawn is lost once again to the world of Hell as well as eternal damnation! 





Sunday, September 29, 2013

A Quick Bit of Video Star Wars Nostalgia For Your Sunday Evening



Continuing the Old School Star Wars love.
Marvel UK variant Star Wars Comic book art and covers.

Another fine Marvel Comics Tribute
 


Kenner Star Wars Action Figure Commercials Part 1 

Star Wars Kenner Action Figure Commercial Part 2 


Don't worry we'll return to the regular  old school retro space rpg hi jinks in the morning but this weekend has been a bit of a blast from the past! 

Review and Commentary On The 'Luke Star Killer' Source book For your Old School Space Opera


You can find it right over 
HERE
Nineteen seventy seven was a banner year for me. Star Wars came out and I discovered Dungeons and Dragons or was it that OD&D discovered me?
Back in those bygone days I consumed everything Star Wars I could get my hands on and with my latest acquisitions the other day I began to look around the net and discovered that a series of articles that show cased some of the early works of George Lucas had been updated! 

 I printed out the ten page article  of 'The Luke Star Killer Source book'!
This isn't a game book instead its a look into one of the most interesting early drafts of the Stars Wars sage.
Here's an introduction and synopsis of the article by the author.
'This mini-sourcebook contains background material from the Second Draft of Star Wars, supplemented with selected material from the first draft, both of which were written by George Lucas. This sourcebook was written in preparation for my sequel to the Lucas script, “Princess of Ondos“.
This source book details the major characters, planets, and factions of this early version of Lucas’ Star Wars universe.
This information is based entirely on the work of George Lucas. –Brendon Wahlberg' 


All your favorites are there but this is a very different universe. The source book reads like an odd mash up of Flash Gordon, bits of Dune, a dash of Errol Flynn, and some very weird Space Western elements thrown into a blender set to Samurai on high.
This isn't a bad thing at all.
There are a lot more Jedi in the movie, the places are familiar but the characters we know and love are set someplace else on the stage. Again this isn't a bad thing at all. This would make a hell of an old school rpg campaign as well as is! That's right the material is very much in the old school action/adventure space tradition if you can find players willing to deal with this one!
The author boils down into a very well thought out sourcebook all of the essential elements right into ten pages. Again things are familiar but very different and very dangerous.
Storm troopers have laser swords!  Sorry no light sabers here and the familiar fanon can get you killed quite easily.
There are other faces that are seen through a glass darkly and their not at all as you might remember them. Tarkin as a good guy! Oh my! 

Luke, Leia, Han are all different and their are many veterans of other conflicts in the background. The Empire is expanding, the Star Killer is retiring, and the death star is moving ever so slowly towards universe domination! 
This is a brand new universe and you can put your own thumb print on it. The author does an excellent job of sketching this out and it would work rather well as a campaign. 

I've been a long time reader of the Star Killer 'The Jedi Bendu' site.
In their words : 
"From this site you can read and download the early drafts and original shooting scripts, see the spectacular pre-production art of Ralph McQuarrie and Alex Tavoularis, read discerning essays and articles about the STAR WARS Saga and directly participate with your own artwork and texts.
The Jedi Bendu is a group of devoted fans who collect and treasure the original drafts and shooting scripts of the STAR WARS saga. Formed in 1995 by “old-timers” who remembered the halcyon days of 1977."


Using The Source Book for Your Old School Space Opera
Campaigns
Playing lets fool the players with this source book is going to get rather old rather fast. The fact is this material is easily adaptable and feels rather new. Suddenly a lot of those fantastic early pre production paintings by Ralph Mcquarrie star wars art books make a whole lot more sense and those are your go to artwork for getting your players in the right frame of mind.
The worlds, aliens, and creatures seem familiar but this is a different galaxy and there's more room to carve out your own mythology,adventures, and changes within it. 
In my humble opinion this material actually fits OD&D as well as the retroclones quite well. The feel is very much pulp and within the old school tradition of adventure building.  
In a nutshell the author did some excellent work and this is a fantastic resource with which to start an OD&D star wars game in a galaxy slightly farther away. 

If you want to download and read some of the original Lucas scripts from the Jedi Bendu site their available right over
HERE!

These may provide more valuable insight into the source book link above and provide you the DM with background you might need! 
In no way shape or form I'm I trying to violate any of the trademarks or copyrights of the holders of  Star Wars, Ralph McQuarrie's artwork  or the efforts of Brendon Wahlberg. THis review is for entertainment purposes only.
This is simply the ramblings of a fan of both Star Wars and the hard work of the 
Star Killer 'The Jedi Bendu' site. 
Rest in Peace
Maestro McQuarrie
Thanks for all the dreams and wonderful artwork.
Remembered
HERE

Saturday, September 28, 2013

Vintage Marvel Star Wars Comics Tag Sale Find - More Resources On The Cheap For Your Old School Science Fiction Campaigns

So today's tag sale find in town today consisted of seven Marvel Star Wars Comics at the bottom of a box labeled 'sewing machine parts' from a tag sale!
Considered by many hard core Star Wars fans to be apocryphal at best these are in my humble opinion some of the very best sources of vintage Star Wars information for running an OD&D based Star Wars Game the way it was meant to be played.
These comics left the back door open for DM's to add or subtract much of the material that Marvel added between movies and it was pretty weird stuff. The comics treated lightly on the canon of the movies and was easily reconned when a new movie came out.
That didn't stop millions of OD&D players from using these comics as the basis for weird and wholly adventures in the past or West End Game fans from using these as canon for their campaigns as well.
These days Dark Horse has collected many of these into single volumes but to find these was a plus for my Saturday considering I only paid a dollar for the box!

 The other resources for Star Wars!


Want to go even further out in a galaxy far, far, away? How about a whole different take on Luke Star Killer? A whole different era of the Empire and when the Princess of Ondos
“needed help! 

Check out http://starwarz.com/starkiller/

A bit of some of my favorite West End Marvel Goodness can be found right
HERE!

 
Leigh Brackett's
Empire Strikes back script
HERE

And of course the OD&D 1977 Star Wars forum right over
HERE

Some great stuff for your science fantasy adventures in other 
apocryphal universes of your own.
May the Bendu be with you always! 

Review and Commentary On The 'Pay What You Like' Adventure - The Tomb of Rakoss The Undying On The Dark Corner Blog

The Tomb of Rakoss the Undying

Undead, Fortune, Glory And Adventure all await you in the adventure
The Tomb of Rakoss The Undying!
Right This Way 

HERE!

Vintage Science Fiction Pulp Magazine Resources For Free Download For Your Old Science Fiction Games

Here are five pulpastic Science fiction resources available for free and legal download.
These can easily be converted into adventures, encounters, and monsters.



Here are a bunch of original Amazing Stories for you to download from the Internet Archive.
Go right over
Here

The Avon Fantasy Reader #10


Grab that right over
HERE


The Treasury of Science Fiction Stories


Available Right Over
HERE
The Fantastic Universe Omnibus 



Available right over

HERE














Friday, September 27, 2013

Review And Commentary Monty Haul's Lesser Tower of Doom From Eldritch Enterprises For Your Old School Horror Campaigns On The Dark Corner Blog!

Dare ye mortal challenge the horrors of Monty Haul's Lesser Tower of Doom
by James Ward?
A new diety has moved into you campaign world and challenges the mightiest heroes for their very souls and existences within the confines of his tower of doom! Dark adventuring, evil traps, and a full review await you right over
HERE!
Come if you dare you fools!
Muhahaha! 

A 70's Sci fi Inspired Beta Max Black Stars Without Number Campaign - Space Salvage - Actual Play Background - Legend of The Battle Star Lemuria

J. H Moore writing in his book Savage Survivals (1933) wrote:
"It is believed that man evolved somewhere in southern Asia, or possibly, still further south than the present boundary of Asia, in lands now drowned by the Indian Ocean. This supposed land is called Lemuria."

 The wreckage of the Battle Star Lumeria sits in deep orbit around a relatively stable moon but this is only a temporary stop in her long, cursed voyage among the stars of the damned!
She was taken out by the Cylons relatively early in the Colonial Wars.
File:TOS-galac.jpg
Commander Chandler was charged with not only the command of the vast army of colonial warriors and their Vipers but also the so called 'Keys of Kobol.' by the Council of the Twelve.
What these artifacts of the Lords of Kobol might be is lost to the ages with the destruction of Capricia. 


With the betrayal of Baltar and the destruction of the Twelve Colonies. The Cylons attacked en-mass after the Lumuria was told to stand down. The Lumuria was banished to the depths of space and its precious cargo of artifacts lost! 
She drifted for centuries. The Cylons sent three base ships devoted to recovering these artifacts including the supposed 'Control Metal'.
A key to the ships of the 'gods' but what or whom those ships might be is never discussed by sane men only the occasional star cantina philosopher or spacers.


The wreckage of Lumuria has become a sort of 'Flying Dutchman' wandering the hyperspace lanes from plane to plane & planet to planet and she has often been seen when portents of disaster looms.
 It is said that the Lumuria is actually the head of a fleet of the damned and cursed by the Cylon genocide moving across the universes and never knowing peace.

 History of the Battle Star Lemuria
There are three ships to bare the name Lemuria within the last  five hundred yahrens. They have all fought with distinguished records in the  the Thousand Yahren War against the Cylon Confederacy. That is until the disgrace of Baltar and the massacre of her commander and her crew.
There were strong connections between Baltar and the Lemuria including construction of the ship within  ship yards of colonial world of Orion. Orion has always been seen as the seat of warfare among the Twelve Colonies as many arms and armor were constructed there. All of this profit  filtering their way back into the family Baltar's coffers.
Orion has always had a somewhat unsavory reputation among the 'Twelve Colonies' and some feel that this aura has tarnished the Lemuria but Commander Chandler has in the past fought against these 'ancient curses' and 'sheer nonsense.' There was no love lost between Count Baltar and Chandler. 
Baltar  was a wealthy rare items trader whom the Cylons first approached to sue for peace and many had their suspicions about him but kept silent and this silence may be partly responsible for the 'Curse of The Lemuria'.
Still none could fault the battle record of the ship. They performed flawless over the last 30 Yahrens even amid the various refits and what have you.
The Lemuria was also one of the only Battle Stars epuipped with the 'Wall' 
" The Wall - a huge corridor where technicians in huge floating chairs listened with headphones, by way of the Battlestars' sensors, to everything from distant quasars, pulsars, super nova remnants and so forth, as a means to keep surveillance on possible Cylon activity or the true location of Earth."
 There were rumors and spacer legends of the Battlestar employing those with psychic or extrasensory abilities.

Even now the strong psychic aura which surrounds the wreckage seems to attract planar demons, alien parasites, undead, and the occasional Brain lasher colony where ever the hyperspace winds take the ship and its damned crew.
The Lemuria was one nautical mile in length with the standard compliment of Vipers as well as shuttles.  


Artifacts from The Battlestar Lemuria  

From time to time there have been artifacts from the Lemuria that turn up at stat bases in the possession of spacers and adventurers.

  1. Tricon card decks that tell the future of the holder. The cards change with each shuffle however. In the hands of a person with the gift they may tell of misfortune or predict hyperspace storms. 
  2. A barrel of Trylum fuel for ship to ship laser cannons +2 to all damage rolls but may clog the delicate filaments of the cannon after 2 uses. 
  3. A jacket belonging to one of the pilots of the Vipers aboard the Lemuria. There is a 20% chance of the character being possessed by the damned spirit and given a task from beyond the grave. 
  4. A laser pistol belonging to one of the Colonial warriors from the Lemuria. Adds +1 damage to all attack rolls against Cylons but there is an air of sadness when the melee is done. 
  5. A piece of the hull plating that carries with it the grief and dishonor of the Lemuria. This is a cursed artifact and those holding it are lost within the memories it contains. Almost like a narcotic those holding it will not want to let it go. A cursed item. 
  6. Bars, stars, or officer's metals these contain the rage and horror of the destruction of the Lemuria. There is a 40% chance that those who handle it will become possessed by the damned soul of the former officer. 
Inspired by Iron Maiden's Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner 






Thursday, September 26, 2013

Inside The Hive Wars - A 70's Sci fi Inspired Beta Max Black Stars Without Number Campaign - Space Salvage - Actual Play Part 1 - Ovions Rising !


For the past several months some of my players have been on hiatus for my Beta Max Black Book Hartford Edition of Stars Without Numbers.
That changed tonight when they picked up where we left off. Last time the PC's were running salavage on some Capital class ships on the edge of Phraint space. The PC's were caught in the grip of two rival hives acting out ritualized warfare and their war ships ships showed over the rights of salvage.
That's when it went all to hell!



With sheer luck and some really good rolls they managed to get the heck out  out of the system with their hyper drive carrier wreck and its ion system in tact.
The insectoids offered the party 1.4 million credits for the 


But there was another party stirring the pot and making demands of the hive. Another group of insects playing one hive off of the other using logic, trickery, and down right sabotage!
 

The Ovions have been expanding their influence very subtly over the last couple of months. This group of players tangled with them some months ago over the rights to a downed Eagle and its cargo of atomics!
The matter was resolved with a good bit of space combat and some downright hostile words.




 Now this same hive of Ovions were back and this time they were using a refitted 'Carrier' as their Hive.
The USS Pegasus has been dealing with their efforts in my other SWN campaign.
The Ovions are an invasive alien insect species in  Phraint space and they've been slowly making recovery efforts for some type of artifact from the Battle Star Lumeria. 



The party did not stick around to find out what the so called 'Control Metal' was or its connection to the Lords of Kobol.
Instead they beat it back to Phraint space and their pay day! 

The two mile megadungeon of the Battle Star Lumeria however remains two days journey from their correct position in Phraint space in the Talon Sector. 




Watch The Neo Noir Film 'A Hand To Play' Starring Doug Bradley Directed By Mike Clarke For Free


Want to watch something interesting and slightly more then a seedy game of chance?
Want to watch what happens when you cross Doug Bradley's Mr. Trent and get plunged into the dark rain slicked world of pulp goodness of
'A Hand To Play'?
hand to play teaser 3

Place your bets right over
HERE *




* some naughty language, intense scenes, weird crime, drug implications, and lots of suspense as well as pulp goodness. Mr. Mike Clarke is responsible for this incredible film. 

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Review and Commentary Irwin Allen's 'The Man From The 25th Century' For Your Old School Post Apocalyptic Campaign

You can find it HERE
This was the pilot for 'The Man From The 25th Century'. This pilot is like something from a combination of Star Trek's Assignment Earth and a preparation for an alien invasion.
The film basically concerns James Darren's character who has been raised by the Planet Andros as the advanced scout for a alien invasion.
Robert Prentice has been trained by these large cranium aliens to be their advanced scout upon Earth except he has the sins of Pride and arrogance. He's been accepted into the ranks of 'Project Delphi'
and given a civilian identity.
This film pilot follows the usual tropes of an Irwin Allen production and I'm quite fond of his work.
You can read more about Allen right over HERE


This great little site goes into quite a bit more detail HERE


 Utilizing the Man From The 25th Century For Your Old School Games 

There is a ton of material that can be borrowed from the 'Man From 25th century'. There are the bald headed aliens who might be be another type of Metaluna refugees. Or they might be from the Mutant Future race known as the Master Minds via their  diabolical creator Tim Snider  HERE

The Mega dungeons of 'Project Dephi' looks pretty awesome and would make a great addition to the Mutant Future as a possible set of Lovecraftian style ruins.
Which Mega Corporation has a hand in the construction and maintenance of such a facility as 'Project Delphi'? Whomever they are and I do have theories would have to almost be the military someone whose got their hands on their own alien technology.
The Delphi Project might actually be its own mega corporation waiting to happen upon an unsuspecting post apocalyptic world. A vault into the future and the source of unspeakable evil waiting to unleash itself upon the world.
Perhaps this is might be an arm of the Pax organization I've talked about before. More on that in a future blog entry.


The set up looks very similar to Project Tick Tock and these massive alien looking ruins are perfect mockups for Krell style laboratories and weird technology abounding as the Earth fights to deal with the menace from Planet Andros. 



Level after level of hidden and sheer dangerous alien and government paranoia as well artifacts await the PC's as they being to deal with this strange and utterly bizarre mega dungeon. Perfect stuff for Mutant Future.
Vaults, levels, and weird 60's style colourful wonders await the PC's. This is a perfect environment to discover and encounter another great mutant menace or survivor issue waiting for the characters!
Could Project Delphi be somehow or some where connected with 'Project Tick Tock'?
You bet they could! 



There are a lot of unknowns connected with Project Delphi and Robert Prentice. A clever DM could exploit those holes to fill in what, who, and what they need to have waiting down in this creeptastic hole in the ground.


This is meant as a fan based piece of entertainment and in no way shape or form as a challenge to the holders of the copy right or trade marks of these properties. This is for entertainment purposes and the opinions expressed here are my fan based attitudes only. 

Review and Commentary On Mayfair Game's Witches On The Dark Corner Blog

Review and Commentary On Mayfair Game's Witches as the days are turning to fall and the night is full of the winds of Halloween once again.

Right over HERE

Vintage Science Fiction Resources On The Cheap & Free For your OSR Science Fiction Campaigns


While on a recent trip to Good Will I spied these beauties and had to have them. These reprints came out aback in the 90's when the Tales From The Crypt show from HBO was at its height. 
The fact is that these comics were extremely well done for the time. The stories were short,sweet, and had some fantastic art work.


 The Warp Comic from First Comics is a whole separate blog entry.

The artwork is fantastic, the writing very well done, and these are pure EC goodness.

Utilizing EC comics for your Old School Games
These were done at the height of EC's ascent to comic book infamy. Each story is a self contained story done in the horror shock tradition. With a bit of imagination a DM can use these stories to have the PC's come upon the aftermath of such goings on. Some can also provide an adventure into themselves.
These are very easy to do with a bit of imagination.
The other find which might be of a bit more use is an old issue of StarLog Magazine. This was one of my rag mags that used to come like clock work in my comic box.


Star log was pretty much everything science fiction in the 70's and 80's. It's entire run happens to be available through the Internet Archive along with Omni Magazine.
Its all legal and free right over
HERE

 The original run of Omni can be found right over
HERE .

All of these will provide a wealth of 70's and 80's nostalgia  as well as gaming goodness!
Fiction, stories by science fiction's leading authors, and loads of resource articles all free.
Enjoy. 

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Agents of Shield Television Review & Comentary For Your Old School Games



Its eleven thirty at night and Agents Of Shield is over and its been an interesting evening to say the least.
The fact is even though I watched the entire episode which was an hour its still grilling in my mind.
 If your expecting this

This isn't going to be happening.
The episode felt more then a bit rushed but its a very tightly packed show with lots of nods to things in the old Marvel tradition.
But if you blink then you'll miss it. The show's episode was very tight and there was a definite gather the agents feel to it with this guy in charge of everything.


The episode evoked a feeling of a new heroic age starting. This isn't so much a brave new world as a world that still reeling with the aftermath of the Avengers movies. The shadow is there but the show seems to be trying to edge itself from it slowly and with its own style.
If the show can get out of its own way and allow its own mirco corner of the  Marvel Shield television universe to develop then it might have a chance.

 Using 'Agents of Shield' For Your Old School OSR Game 



Through out the episode of tonight's Agents we were hit again and again how this was a brand new world and it really felt like the show was starting out with its own 'birth of a brand super hero universe' thing.
This however is television and ABC at that so it means Disney trying to keep and feel its way through the Marvel universe.
I was for a brief instant reminded of my days DMing Marvel Super Heroes and White Wolf's Aberrant game.
I've always loved PC's breaking out of the shadow of whatever 'ABC' alphabet super hero soup Marvel or any game presented to the players and more often then not the players made PC's that did.
We got within an hour nods to Marvel comics, weird tech, odd groups, compartmentalized shadow organizations, and lots of nods that can be utilized for a low powered, slick super hero game, and that's what works about both the show and a campaign like this.
This show's episode is the really the opener to the world that their working on. The formula could be used for a Marvel Supers game with little effort. Most of the material is available for a few download.
Right
HERE
 I was entertained but its too early to tell where this show is going quite yet. I've got a very wait and see attitude for it.
If I was going to run something with this show then I'd be interested in being the guys who created this

For now these people while entertaining are still at level 7 while the fans are alright at level 8 and have been for sometime!

Official site right over
HERE

Review & Commentary On The Agents of Shield Trailer


So Agents of Shield is premiering tonight.
I'm getting together with friends and we're going to be dealing with going through the new show that there's been hints teasing and flirting with the public for months now. 



I've got to admit there is a part of me that is more then a bit reluctant for this to hit ABC.

Yeah, Yeah, Joss Wheadon and his track record. But I've grown up with Shield from the 70's with Nick Fury and beyond into the 'Ultimates' series where the movies actually have their roots. So this being a prime time show might actually have some interesting twists and turns.

Shield has always been more then a bit bit dicey in terms of how it operates in the Marvel universe. From LMD to the helicarrier, this is an organization that's been conned, reconned, and rereconned again.
 But this is Marvel and so I remain hopeful especially with stuff  like this trailer. So we'll, wait, watch, and see. 
Agent Coulson is just a great character! 

Here's wiki's break down on everything Shield related
Right over
 HERE
Spoilers AHEAD! You've been warned!