Saturday, May 31, 2014

Free Horror Comic Download - From Scary Tales #26 (January 1983), Man's Best Friend For Your Old School Campaigns


My hands are shaking. After twenty one years I've rediscovered an old Tom Sutton favorite from the pages of a Carlton comic that I had way back in 1992. Every single horror comic site, face book group,etc. I've been a part of I've asked after this story which as a kid partially launched my love of horror comics. 
I had a physical copy of this comic back in the 90's and it was lost to me. I couldn't remember the title of the comic. Today I was searching through the Sutton artwork and there it was right in Google image search!
From Scary Tales #26 (January 1983), here’s “Man’s Best Fiend,” with script by Tom Tuna (a pseudonym of Joe Gill) and art by Tom Sutton.
Special thanks to Tom Sutton and John Gill for twisting my little mind as a kid and setting me on this dark and twisting path!
Discovered this afternoon on the Ragged Claws Blog. 

tom-sutton_mans-best-fiend_scary-tales-v9-n26_jan1983_p1of7
tom-sutton_mans-best-fiend_scary-tales-v9-n26_jan1983_p2of7



tom-sutton_mans-best-fiend_scary-tales-v9-n26_jan1983_p3of7
tom-sutton_mans-best-fiend_scary-tales-v9-n26_jan1983_p4of7
tom-sutton_mans-best-fiend_scary-tales-v9-n26_jan1983_p5of7



tom-sutton_mans-best-fiend_scary-tales-v9-n26_jan1983_p6of7


tom-sutton_mans-best-fiend_scary-tales-v9-n26_jan1983_p7of7
Using
Mr. Weaver's Pet's
For Your Old School Campaigns
Mr. Weaver is a very unpleasant character to begin with. Now a vampire as per the OD&D Dragon magazine and old school rules. Weaver has not amended his ways as he's risen from the grave, if anything he now is even more amoral in his lawfully evil ways. Weaver's Pet's can mystically appear in any old school city where Weaver sets up shop and begins to sell his particular pets as assassins and instruments of vengeance. Weaver is an alchemist or wizard of considerable talent as well as being one of the undead. It is said that he had a strain of ghoul blood running in his veins before being converted fully over to full undead status.
 There is 70% chance of Weaver having a monster or creature from the OD&D mythos in stock as well monsters of a Lovecraftian nature as well. He gets 300 gold or up to 10,000 per monster depending upon rarity and condition of his dungeon or wasteland denizens.
He will pay 100 gold per monster if the adventurers are willing to sell him live creatures. Those whom he takes in to his 'special back room' are held by a combination charm spell/suspension spell. Monsters are automatically held in a state of manageable violence. The spell will remain up to a week in effect until the horror is unleashed upon its prey. The shop itself has certain peculiarities as well. There always seems to be more room in the shop for another horror and extra strong cages to house these horrors.
 Weaver has a vast knowledge of monsters, folkways, the habits, and particulars of his 'pets' but is loath to part with such knowledge. He is charming, languid,something of a lech, but even as a vampire still a blood sucking fiend of a business man. He also has a rather nasty habit of surviving a number of fatal deaths over the centuries. There are rumors of some god or Lovecraftian deity favoring him and his particularly loathsome shop.

Hidden In Plain Site - A Mutant Future Encounter And One For Your Old School Post Apocalyptic Campaigns



File:Boblo Island Boat Dock Building Detroit 3.JPG

The PC's are contacted by the Mutant Underground Rail Road regarding a very special task, the transport of a representative of the M.U.R.R.  to the outlaw zone of Detroit. Eddie the usual green reptile mutant that has met the party previously will meet with the party. He will offer the party an artifact for the job and two hundred gold pieces for the escort.
 Hilda is lovely and quite striking mutant woman dressed in crow armor and armed with a knife and relic pistol. She rides a whorse ( mutant horse with a horn, altered skin color, and shark survival instincts)
The DM should set up several minor encounters with mutant wolves and a bandit or two nothing out of the ordinary.
The PC's are riding into a death trap through. 

Detroit Shuffle
Over the last several months of dealing with several Mutant Future Encounters the PC's have come to the attention of the so called 'Waste Management.' A radical group of super science using mutants who are at their core an assassins guild of mutant shifters. These mutants use the genetic gifts of the tribes and members as well as super science to manage the so called trash of the world. This is namely adventurers and the like who are likely to cause problems for them. The precog council among the Mangement has seen a few alternative realities where the P.C.'s may become a disruption to the plans of the group. They've decided to head off such a possibility by eliminating the PC's. The PC's are traveling with a third level assassin armed too the teeth and leading the PC's into a death trap. There are shifter spies, espers, etc. along the route guaging the party's strength, guile, and capabilities.  
File:Lee Plaza Detroit.jpg
The Waste Management operates from the ruins of several preholocaust apartment buildings in Detroit which have been updated and make use fusion cells, recovered super science devices and artifacts. These cells often operate out of so called 'facades'. Homes and apartments made up to look like pre holocaust locations used to lure in adventurers and the like while the shifters and forces imitate androids and like.
Shifters encountered are almost always 2nd level fighters or assassins according to labyrinth lord rules with a 30% chance of using pre holocaust artifacts but many times instead favoring knives, short swords, and simple weapons.

Tools of Waste Management
File:Turkish - Penknife - Walters 57620.jpg
Operatives of the Waste Management group use a mnemonic memory steel artifact known as a Ch'uru. These  minor super science artifacts are solar powered and are able to take on the appearance of any metal. With a simple mental command these things can become a pen, a ring, or any other piece of small jewelry. This is an easy and quite effective transformation. These objects may also become a small metal dagger or at the upper limits of the Ch'uru a short sword of very thin steel. These objects may with a small electric charge become a small pry bar, screw driver, or other simple rod like device. The secret to their manufacture is a closely guarded secret in the organization. There are only typically three weapon configurations that these devices may store. They may self destruct if the shifter owner is killed for 1d4 points of damage to everything within a six meter radius within three rounds. An electrical current must be applied to the artifact to stabilize the bio electric field of the tool. 



No. Enc: 1
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 90’ (30’)
AC: 4
HD: 10
Attacks: 1 (punch or kick) or by weapon
Damage: 1d4 or 1d6 or by weapon
Save: L12
Morale: 6


Hoard Class: VI, VIII, IX, XVI


More Information Right Over On Chris Van Deelen's Blog


Mutations: Type 1 – Bizarre appearance (skin and eye coloration), extended life span, increased physical attribute (dexterity), metamorph (special), natural armour, sound imitation (special)
Type 2 Bizarre appearance (skin and eye coloration), extended life span, increased physical attribute (dexterity), metamorph (special), natural armour, sound imitation (special)
Type 3 Bizarre appearance (skin and eye coloration), extended life span, increased physical attribute (dexterity), metamorph (special), natural armour, shapeshift, sound imitation (special)
Type 4 (cursed) Bizarre appearance (skin and eye coloration), extended life span, increased physical attribute (dexterity), natural armour, sound imitation,  and one or more of the following drawbacks – continuous metamorph or morphic form or morphic gender
Source: Mystique from X-men (2000)

Five Cult Classic Post Apocalyptic Films As Fodder For Your Old School Campaigns


Here's a quick list of cult films that don't get mentioned when it comes to dealing out some inspiration for a post apocalyptic campaign. Anyone of these films makes great fodder for a wasteland of weirdness. These are especially great for Mutant Future or any old school post apocalyptic adventure. 

A Boy And His Dog From 1975 hardly ever gets spoken about today but there's some good bits to mine from this old school classic. Take a look.
Ahh the classic Death Race 2000 from the twistedly classic mind of Roger Corman doesn't get mentioned to often but it remains an old favorite of mine.
Let's see there's also the other classic that often gets a mention but hardly looked at. The classic Roller Ball!


The Ralph Bakshi classic Wizards hits all of the high marks for crossing the classic fantasy elements right into post apocalyptic genre with no regrets. A simply great film to pull from!




Here's a lovely little gem that hardly ever gets mentioned when it comes to post apocalyptic movies! Screamers was a weird little movie that crossed the line from science fiction horror to high weirdness out in the wasteland.  This one from 1995 isn't thought of at all by most folks and is easily adapted into a really nasty little piece of work for a full campaign. 







Friday, May 30, 2014

Review Of 100 Wasteland Locations From Fishwife Games For Your Old School Post Apocalyptic Campaigns


Grab it Right Over 

Sometimes a blank spot on the map for an rpg adventure especially a apocalyptic one isn't a good thing at all. These spots have a tendancy to be exploited by players quite ruthlessly! Don't let this happen to you! We've got this handy little wonder chart from Fish Wife games that allows you fill those gaps in quickly, easily and with little fuss.
This is a nice solidly little addition to the DM's arsenal. With a few roles those white parts are filled in and you've got an evening's entertainment for less then a hamburger from the dollar menu.
Here's the description from Drivethrurpg: 
100 Wasteland Locations
A 100 list featuring an assortment of wasteland locations. Included in this mix is the name of the place, what sort of location it is, and basic information regarding what might be found there. Need to fill up that post apocalypse map with quick details? Just grab your percentile dice and consult this handy chart!
Personally this product is going up on the table for tonight's Mutant Epoch game! The PC's aren't going to be happy being thrust into the middle of some of the hilarity talked about in here. Three or four random rolls and a quick sprinkle of monsters and then we're playing here. 
Using 100 Wasteland Locations 
For Your Old School Post Apocalyptic Campaigns 


There are some great ways of using this little product. The tradition way is of course to fill in those pesky blank spots and go from there for your PC's fun. This creates a ton of potential experience spots and encounter obstacles for the party.
Another way of using this product is to use it to create your P.A. campaign from whole cloth. With a few quick rolls, your favorite rule's set, and some monsters your actually ready to create a whole world in miniature with little to no problem.
The other idea of plugging Wasteland Locations into an unconventional spot would be to use this pdf is a jump off point for a fantasy location. With Star Gate getting rebooted and other dimensional science fiction and fantasy entertainment venues getting exposure over the next year or so. Why not get the jump on all of them by getting your old school fantasy party into a few of the locations randomly that are talked about in 100 Wasteland locations.
As with any DYI post apocalyptic campaign aid, 100 Wasteland Locations uses are actually only limited by your imagination  and ideas! Personally this is a nice little product with lots of potential only limited by the number of dice and ideas that you can bring to your gaming table! 

Free Comic Book Science Classic Download - Space Adventures # 11 1954 As Fodder For Your Old School Science Fiction Campaigns


Grab It Right
HERE
Another Carlton comics download this one has a bit of everything for that science fiction or science fantasy campaign. All the usual suspects are here in this issue.
 'Inter planetary Safari' is a perfect set up for an Xplorers game or even better a retrofuture Stars Without Numbers campaign. The ideas here in this story are bold and very solidly done with some great 1950's style artwork.
'You Are The Jury' is a well thought out yarn that makes a nifty intermediate encounter for an old school science fiction style campaign. Very nicely done actually. 
'Machine vs Mars' is easy to adapt to any number of games and resounds quite nice as a quick little add in for a game like Stars Without Number. Interesting stuff in the usual 1950's two pager. 
'Dead Reckoning' is a great little quick number that has some echoes with both Stars Without Number and as a post apocalyptic style encounter. A little implied sex, romance, murder, and the pay off go a long way as a quick set up for an adventure encounter!
 'Legions of Atlantis' is the real gem of this issue and perfect for Mutant Future when you need a fast start or kick off style adventure! Very well done in my opinion and a perfect set up for a lead in for a game! All in all this is a perfect issue to lead in with a group of players not expecting things done in the old styles of the Carlton Comics tradition.

What Is Space Adventures?


According to Wiki: 
Space Adventures (sometimes cover-titled Science Fiction Space AdventuresSpace Adventures Presents Rocky Jones and other variations for particular issues) was an American science-fiction anthology comic book series published sporadically by Charlton Comics from 1952 to 1979. Its initial iteration included some of the earliest work of industry notablesSteve DitkoDick Giordano, and Tony Tallarico, and at least one story by EC Comics mainstay Bernard Krigstein.
In 1960, a second iteration introduced the superhero Captain Atom by writer Joe Gill and artist Ditko, shortly prior to Ditko's co-creation of Spider-Man for Marvel ComicsSpace Adventures, a science-fiction anthology comic book from the Derby, Connecticut-based Charlton Comics, was initially published for 21 issue (cover-dated July 1952 - Aug. 1956). Issues #9-12 (Winter 1954 - Aug. 1954) were cover-titled Science Fiction Space Adventures. The following two issues were cover-billed Space Adventures Presents The Blue Beetle, and featured reprints of the defunct publisher Fox Comics' superhero, from 1939. Issues 15-18 (March-Sept. 1955) carried the rubric Space Adventures Presents Rocky Jones, and featured that children's television character in licensed TV spin-off stories. These were primarily illustrated by penciler Ted Galindo and inked by, variously, Dick GiordanoRay Osrin, or Galindo himself. Giordano penciled at least one "Rocky Jones" story, "Gravity-Plus", inked by Jon D'Agostino, in issue 18. Issues 19 and 21 reverted to Space Adventures, interspersed with another licensed tie-in, Space Adventures Presents First Trip to the Moon — a retitled reprint of writer Otto Binder, penciler Dick Rockwell and inker Sam Burlockoff's adaptation of the movie Destination Moon, from Fawcett Comics' 1950 one-shot of that name.[1]
Space Adventures #10-11 (Spring-June 1954) contained two of Steve Ditko's first half-dozen comic-book covers.[2] Issue 16 (May 1955) features a six-page story, "Jealousy on Kano", by artist Bernard Krigstein, one of EC Comics' acclaimed creators in one of his small handful of non-EC stories during that publisher's 1954-55 heyday

Thursday, May 29, 2014

Bait And Switch - An Mutant Future Encounter or An Encounter For Your Old School Post Apocalyptic Campaigns


File:Cape Cod - Landsat 7.jpg
Sailing out of Corroded Cape Cod, is a whaling factory vessel  The Nimaway who are looking for a few solid adventurers. They're going after the dreaded Octoshark families which include the Sharkotopus off the Altered Atlantic, monsters of dread aspect that only madmen go after them. The crew of the Nimaway seem to have some of the best turn capture and turn over rates and the Sea Scape  is interested why. The Sea Scape is a group of nautical super scientists who use their advanced knowledge of the Altered Atlantic to profit from the oceans and its mutated sea life as well the wreckage, ruins, and more of the oceans 
File:USA Cape Cod 6 MA.jpg
The PC's are approached by three small gilled mutated humanoids Ted, Bill, and Eddie who represent Sea Scape. They're offering the PC's a small contract, one major artifact, and 130 pounds of trade goods for information and solid info  on the crew, captain, and methods of the Nimaway.
The Nimaway is taking on crew, some supplies, and crew at port right now. So the PC's have the perfect opportunity to slip into the ranks of the crew.

The Secrets Of The Nimaway
The crew of the Nimaway and her captain strange but incredibly well seasoned seamen with a weird almost uncanny way of dealing with the seas around the Altered Atlantic. They're professionals in every sense of the word except one. They're machines! The crew of the Nimaway are actually a crew of fakes! The ship's  crew is  made up of  escaped recreation & historical park androids programmed with every facet of the history,tactical knowledge,practices, and professionalism of sailors from this area. There's also a rogue A.I. up the Neo England coastline looking for his lost children. While they hide in plain sight they have secrets of their own.
The Nimaway crew has made deals with several tribes of Deep Ones who frequent these waters for the location of the territory of the  Sharktopus with whom they share these waters. The Deep Ones gain sacrifices for Mother Hydra  and Father Dagon. The androids gain much needed replacement parts from deep wrecks and a network of contacts along the coast for artifacts, safe houses, and more. The Sharktopus are actually aggressive and dangerous  competition for the Deep Ones which for uncounted eons have used these waters as hunting and breeding grounds.
The Nimaway provides a myriad of articles and materials from the mutated monsters that are used by hundreds of artists,craftsmen, and more up and down the Neo England coast. The Sharktopus breed quickly in these waters and are only kept in check by other high end predators in these waters. 
File:Whaling factory ship Sir James Clark Ross, Paterson Inlet, Stewart Island.jpg

The Sea Scape organization knows that there are other far more dangerous predators that are immune to the weapons, defenses, and abilities of the Sharktopus. The adventurers may provide them with the much needed knowledge and should they not. There are always other fools to fill the belly of the mutated horrors.


Get More Information Right Over On Chris Van Deelen's Blog 


No. Enc: 1

Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 180’ (60’) Swim
AC: 2
HD: 30
Attacks: 1 bite or 8 tentacles or 1 ram
Damage: 5d6 or 2d8 x8 or 6d6
Save: L20
Morale: 7
Hoard Class: None

Mutations: Aberrant form (natural weapons, xenomorphism: chimera), gigantism, heightened sense (smell, taste), spiny growth, toxic weapon (acidic ink cloud).
Source: Sharktopus (2010)
The Shaktopus is not the only horrors that ply these waters. There are several different Kaiju who feed off of the sharktopus and are immune to its defenses by sheer raw power. The android crew of the Nimaway are aware of these horrors from beyond and make a regular sacrifice to these horrors as well. The monsters leave the ship alone and simply by sheer mathetical odds have little to do with it. They battle some of the oldest and largest Deep Ones in the deep ocean trenches that are off the coast of the Altered Atlantic. These monsters are by no means the only things that swim and breed in these depths. 


Want To Know More Go 

No. Enc: 1d4
Alignment:  Neutral
Movement: 1800’ (600’)
                     600’ (200’) Swim
                     300’ (100’) Burrow
AC: -5
HD: 500
Attacks: 4 bashes, or 2 stomps, or 1 tail slap, or 1 bite, or one head bash
Damage:  35d6 / 35/d6 25d6 / 25d6 or death / death, or 50d6 and knockback, 45d6 and swallow whole

Save: L20
Morale: 11
Hoard Class: None

Mutations: Gigantism, immunity to sonic attacks
Source: Pacific Rim (2013)


The Nimaway uses sonic weapons and reflection equipment which attracts the Hammerheads who will surface for a quick snack. The PC's are in tremendous danger from the aquatic monsters that are prowling this encounter. The crew of the Nimaway will sign them up for a tour of two 60 days rotation including bed and meals for 140 gold pieces.  They will never see this money. Which will be collected before they are sacrificed. The Sea Scape organization will provide a homing beacon should the party be lost at sea which will work for 100 kilometer radius when activated. They fear that the investment that they have in the PC's will be lost. There have been reports of adventurers being stranded upon remote miniature islands that have been created by the underwater remains of pre apocalyptic ruins.
It will be awhile before the PC's realize it is they who are really the bait and switch of this encounter!
File:Whaling and Sealing Ships at Grytviken, South Georgia (5686062332).jpg


The Death Reserve Movie Is On The Rise!

Well it looks like my buddy Von Kreep has started up with the funding drive for his film Death Reserve! The alternative Diesel punk WWII movie epic. According to the Death Reserve Facebook page: 
"Hey gang! I just started a GoFundMe to help launch the film project. I'm planning on adding more Reward Levels later today, and continue as we go. Please be sure to check it out, donate, or share. " Let's make horror cinema history together! http://www.gofundme.com/HelpMakeDeathReserve


There's lots of other developments happening with this. 

Check out more details over on Face Book HERE 
More coming details soon as they become available. I'm keeping a close eye on this one!

Thanks to Gorgon Entertainment for sharing their fantastic artwork with this blog. This blog entry is not a challenge  to any copyrights and trademarks to Gorgon Entertainment or its properties. This blog entry is for entertainment purposes only. 

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Detroit Transfer - An Encounter For Mutant Future and Your Old School Post Apocalyptic Campaigns



The PC's are approached by the 'Made Men' a group of super science smugglers who have an offer the PC's can't refuse. It seems that someone hired the 'Men' to transfer a special cargo container with to a buyer  out in the ruins of Detroit. 'The Reclaimation of Detroit' was happening at the outbreak of the Apocalypse. The armored car they were using for the transfer hasn't been heard from in two days and the Made Men are very nervous. They've heard of the PC's and their dealings with items of a sensitive nature.
They're representative Lenny Loose Lips a mutant with a weird speech impediment and tongue capable of delivering a nasty poisonous bite over distances contacts the PC's. Lenny tells the PC's that the offer for the transfer was made through a series of dead drops, and payment was made up front. The wilds of Detroit are notorious for both their dangerous mutated wild life and the countless gangs that use the lawless no man's land as a base to operate from.
They're willing to offer offer two major artifacts and 100 pounds of trade goods. They have a map of the armored car's route, food, and a radio beacon when the car is located. They are unsure of the cargo but think that it was some type of dangerous mutant.
The PC's route to the ruins of Detroit will involve two separate encounters with second level fighters armed with swords, guns, and on horse back. These raiders will be fleeing Detroit and fight for dear life.
File:Blindadochev.jpg

The PC's will find the armored car on their fourth day. The nuclear battery powered high speed armored car is open, the corpses of the drivers,guards, etc. are all in tact. Everything is there and untouched. No flies or sights of decay are their. The sleep pod container used to transport the mutant has been destroyed from the inside out. The heavy machine gun and ammo are intact and have not been fired. There are two hundred rounds of ammo within the armored car still. There are several smaller boxes in the back of the car. They contain several contraband items including : 1d8 nuclear hand grenades, a pair of radioactive sprayers with ammo, 13 small anti personel joy buzzer devices, and 1d6 anti rad drugs doses. There is also a small short wave radio and several batteries to fit it. 
Box two contains: three small devices of unknown purpose, along with several bags of highly addictive narcotics, and several high stim shots. 
Box three contains a small antimatter device that is in active at the moment but will do 5d6 points of damage to everything within a 50 block radius. This device is code locked.
For every 1d20 hours spent in the open there a 40% chance of an encounter with a gang or some bandits. Consult the proper encounter matrix for details of the encounters in your Mutant Future rule book under bandits.

What's Going In Detroit ? 

Recently a wizard called Negellus sent a group of adventurers to a parallel post apocalyptic world's ruins of Pittsburgh for the express purpose of capturing a very dangerous mutant. After encountering a group of Black Knight warriors the wizard was destroyed. But not before paying the 'Made Men' to transport a very dangerous Pittsburgh Troglodyte mutant to a warlord client. The warlord's men were the first victims of the dangerous predator.
File:Vanity Ballroom Detroit 2010.jpg

Now everyone within a 20 block radius has become one of these dangerous and very aggressive mutant horrors. Bandits for blocks around are trigger happy and very paranoid. They will fire upon the PCs and ask questions later. The PC's will need all of the artifacts within the armored car to fight their way back. A small sniveling super scientist two blocks away from their present location knows a secret. A trog must be captured in order to create a serum. Wiley Rarely is a small pure strain human that knows the secret of these creatures and was supposed to take possession of the mutant. Things didn't go as planned. Several letters within the armored car indicate that he was supposed to take possession and has the equipment to capture and sedate a Trog! 


Pittsburgh Troglodyte
Want To Know More
Go Over To Chris Van Deelen's Blog
HERE

No. Enc: 5d6
Alignment:  Chaotic
Movement: 120' (40')
                      30’ (10’) Vertical Jump
AC: 7
HD: 5
Attacks: 3 (Bite, claw, claw)
Damage: 1d6 plus special, 2d4 / 2d4
Save: L5
Morale: 4
Hoard Class: None

Mutations: Aberrant form (natural weapons), bizarre appearance (bloated belly, hairless)(d), clinging, dietary requirement change (living flesh)(d), extended life span, increased senses (hearing, smell).
Source: Fallout 3 down-loadable content, The 

Slicing Deeper Into The Free Science Fiction Classic ' The City At The World's End' By Edmond Hamilton For Your Old School Post Apocalyptic Campaigns

Grab it Right
HERE

Imagine growing up in the 1950's midwestern America small town U.S.A. and suddenly finding that right above your heads an atomic weapon has gone off. Suddenly there's a blinding flash, and your someplace else. Not simply some place else in space but time. This is the story of a small town and its dawning relization that they're entire existence has been thrust deep into time way into the future.
The text and dialogue are quick and quite a two step of science fiction. There's lots going on here with the main male character dealing with not only the implications of what's been happening but a fight for survival as the town itself tries to cope with the dawning revelations that something extraordinary has taken place. Earth is covered with acre after acre of strangely abandoned domed cities. The sense of loneliness and weirdness in these chapters is high pulp and the novel shares many instances of things in common with William Hope Hodgeson's the Night Lands. Earth is in the throws of the far future, this is a similar location to that which is hinted at in H.G. Wells The Time Machine, the Earth has cooled, this is a dying world. There's lots of weird bits in this one for example. Mankind has spread among the stars and has been genetically modified to live in the vast interstellar distances. The aliens are in fact us.
These aliens however have far more in common with the so called primitives then they do with the citizens of the Galactic Empire. The story is great from a post apocalpytic perspective because it allows on to really get into quite a bit of cross over with out actually giving up the fight for survival on a dying Earth. The vast unexplored cities are perfect mega dungeon locations and are great for putting whatever little twisted creations you might want to throw at your players as a DM.

I remain a huge Edmond Hamilton fan and there are some issues with this book. There are plenty of 1950's mores and norms here and that has to be taken into account. This novel is ground breaking in the sense that there is a strong female star ship captain and though she falls for the male lead there's more behind this then simple sexism. 

Hamilton and Leigh Brackett are two of my all time favorite writers from the age of pulps and there's a wealth of material that can be pulled and mined from The City At The World's End. 



Edmond Moore Hamilton

EHamilton1956.jpg

I'am a huge fan of Edmond Hamiliton and he's a great pulp writer in the best of the Lovecraftian circle's tradition.
You can read more right over HERE
Wiki goes into a bit more of his background : 

Edmond Moore Hamilton (October 21, 1904 – February 1, 1977) was an American author of science fiction stories and novels during the mid-twentieth century. Born in Youngstown, Ohio, he was raised there and in nearbyNew Castle, Pennsylvania. Something of a child prodigy, he graduated from high school and started college (Westminster CollegeNew Wilmington, Pennsylvania) at the age of 14, but washed out at 17.

Edmond is credited[citation needed] as the author of the first hardcover compilation of what would eventually come to be known as the science fiction genre, The Horror on The Asteroid and Other Tales of Planetary Horror (1936). The book compiles the following stories: "The Horror on the Asteroid", “The Accursed Galaxy", "The Man Who Saw Everything" ("The Man With the X-Ray Eyes"), "The Earth-Brain", "The Monster-God of Mamurth", and "The Man Who Evolved".
His career as a science fiction writer began with the publication of the short story "The Monster God of Mamurth", which appeared in the August 1926 issue of the classic magazine of alternative fiction, Weird Tales. Hamilton quickly became a central member of the remarkable group of Weird Tales writers. 

assembled by editor Farnsworth Wright, that included H. P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard. Hamilton would publish 79 works of fiction in Weird Tales between 1926 and 1948, making him one of the most prolific of the magazine's contributors (only Seabury Quinn and August Derleth appeared more frequently). Hamilton became a friend and associate of several Weird Tales veterans, including E. Hoffmann Price and Otis Adelbert Kline; most notably, he struck up a 20-year friendship with close contemporary Jack Williamson, as Williamson records in his 1984 autobiography Wonder's Child. In the late 1930s Weird Tales printed several striking fantasy tales by Hamilton, most notably "He That Hath Wings" (July 1938), one of his most popular and frequently-reprinted pieces.

Through the late 1920s and early '30s Hamilton wrote for all of the SF pulp magazines then publishing, and contributedhorror and thriller stories to various other magazines as well. He was very popular as an author of space opera, a sub-genrehe created along with E.E. "Doc" Smith. His story "The Island of Unreason" (Wonder Stories, May 1933) won the first Jules Verne Prize as the best SF story of the year (this was the first SF prize awarded by the votes of fans, a precursor of the later Hugo Awards). 


On December 31, 1946, Hamilton married fellow science fiction author and screen writer Leigh Brackett in San Gabriel, CA, and moved with her to Kinsman, Ohio. Afterward he would produce some of his best work, including his novels The Star of Life (1947), The Valley of Creation (1948), City at World's End (1951[4]), and The Haunted Stars (1960). In this more mature phase of his career, Hamilton moved away from the romantic and fantastic elements of his earlier fiction to create some unsentimental and realistic stories, such as "What's It Like Out There?" (Thrilling Wonder Stories, Dec. 1952), his single most frequently-reprinted and anthologized work.
Though Hamilton and Leigh Brackett worked side by side for a quarter-century, they rarely shared the task of authorship; their single formal collaboration, Stark and the Star Kings, would not appear in print until 2005. In the early 1960s, it has been speculated that when Brackett had temporarily abandoned SF for screenwriting, Hamilton did an uncredited revision and expansion of two early Brackett stories, "Black Amazon of Mars" and "Queen of the Martian Catacombs"—revised texts were published as the novellas People of the Talisman and The Secret of Sinharat (1964).

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

1d30 Random Items From The Outer Darkness For The Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea Rpg System



 There are items that wash upon the shores of the edges of Hyperborea, these items can sometimes make a kingdom or curse a soul to the depths of the Outer Darkness in some nameless star lost Hell.
Here are a few
Right HERE

Monday, May 26, 2014

Help Celebrate Robert W. Chambers Birthday By Download The Horror Classic The King In Yellow For Your Old School Campaigns

File:The King in Yellow.jpg

Grab It Right Over
HERE

Yesterday was the birthday of R.W. Chambers whose responsible for the creation of the King In Yellow this horrid little book with its deep supernatural connections which are forever linked to the Cthulhu cycles by Lovecraft. But is there simply more then meets the eye then simply a horror writer whose work has been attached to the work of another forever more. We'll take a quick look into the actual book 'The King In Yellow"
What Is The King In Yellow? 
Along the shore the cloud waves break,
The twin suns sink behind the lake,
The shadows lengthen
In Carcosa.
Strange is the night where black stars rise,
And strange moons circle through the skies,
But stranger still is
Lost Carcosa.
From The King In Yellow by R.W. Chambers

Besides being a play that induces insanity and madness with its weird deity like figure floating in and out of the book. What is the book really about?
According To Wiki: 
The King in Yellow is a book of short stories by American writer Robert W. Chambers, first published by F. Tennyson Neely in 1895.[2] The book is named after a fictional play with the same title which recurs as a motif through some of the stories.[3] The first half of the book features highly esteemed weird stories, and the book is described by S.T. Joshi as a classic in the field of the supernatural.[3] There are ten stories, the first four of which, "The Repairer of Reputations", "The Mask", "In the Court of the Dragon" and "The Yellow Sign", mention The King in Yellow, a forbidden play which induces despair or madness in those who read it.
There's more to the book then simply a line or two linking what at first might seem to be anathology of stories with a common supernatural theme, once again according to Wiki : 

The first four stories are loosely connected by three main devices:
  • A fictional play in book form entitled The King in Yellow
  • A mysterious and malevolent supernatural entity known as The King in Yellow
  • An eerie symbol called The Yellow Sign
These stories are macabre in tone, centering, in keeping with the other tales, on characters that are often artists ordecadents. The first and fourth stories, "The Repairer of Reputations" and "The Yellow Sign", are set in an imagined future 1920s America, whereas the second and third stories, "The Mask" and "In the Court of the Dragon", are set in Paris. These stories are haunted by the theme: "Have you found the Yellow Sign?"
The weird and macabre character gradually fades away during the remaining stories, and the last three are written in the romantic fiction style common to Chambers' later work. They are all linked to the preceding stories by their Parisian setting and artistic protagonists.
The stories in the book are:
  • "The Mask" – A dream story of art, love, and uncanny science.
  • "The Yellow Sign" – An artist is troubled by a sinister churchyard watchman who resembles a coffin worm.
  • "The Prophets' Paradise" – A sequence of eerie prose poems that develop the style and theme of a quote from the fictional play The King in Yellow which introduces "The Mask".
  • "The Street of the Four Winds" – An atmospheric tale of an artist in Paris who is drawn to a neighbor's room by a cat; the story ends with a macabre touch.
  • "The Street of the First Shell" – A war story set in the Paris Siege of 1870.
  • "The Street of Our Lady of the Fields" – Romantic American bohemians in Paris.
  • "Rue BarrĂ©e" – Romantic American bohemians in Paris, with a discordant ending that playfully reflects some of the tone of the first story.

    Who Was  
R.W. Chambers The Writer

 Once again Wiki here :
He was born in Brooklyn, New York, to William P. Chambers (1827–1911), a famous lawyer, and Caroline (Boughton) Chambers, a direct descendant ofRoger Williams, the founder of Providence, Rhode Island. Robert's brother wasWalter Boughton Chambers, the world famous architect.
Robert William Chambers.jpg
His most famous, and perhaps most meritorious, effort is The King in Yellow, a collection of Art Nouveau short stories published in 1895. This included several famous weird short stories which are connected by the theme of a fictitious drama of the same title, which drives those who read it insane.[1] E. F. Bleiler described The King in Yellow as one of the most important works of American supernatural fiction.[2] It was also strongly admired by H.P. Lovecraft and his circle.
Chambers returned to the weird genre in his later short story collections The Maker of MoonsThe Mystery of Choice andThe Tree of Heaven, but none earned him as much success as The King in Yellow. Some of Chambers's work contains elements of science fiction, such as In Search of the Unknown and Police!!!, about a zoologist who encounters monsters
Chambers later turned to writing romantic fiction to earn a living. According to some estimates, Chambers had one of the most successful literary careers of his period, his later novels selling well and a handful achieving best-seller status. Many of his works were also serialized in magazines.
Want to know more go right over HERE 


You can find more of Chamber's works right over HERE
The 1d10 Random Remains Table From The Passage 
Of The King In Yellow
File:The King in Yellow.jpg

  1. A bunch of random citizens of Carcosa left behind twisted and slightly mutated by the passage of the King. They insist everything is fine even though their features are slightly melted. There is 20% chance of these folks having some type of minor Lovecraftian artifact or treasure on them. 
  2. A strange colourless substance coats everything, There is 40% chance of it being alive. The stuff will do 1d8 points of damage to any metal it encounters and 1d4 points to any flesh. 
  3. There is a strange cloth like flesh material that is found on the ground. Should anyone pick it up the stuff will be revealed to be flesh, This stuff will try to take over the nervous system of anyone picks it up. 
  4. A cut crystal glass jar that contains various surgical instruments and eyes. The eyes will have 50% chance of looking directly at a PC and are able to cast magic spells. 
  5. A strange powder is being offer and it will repel monsters. Its made from the ground up bones of the worshipers of  Hastor. 
  6. A strange little man offers to help with any supernatural occurrences and to repair any damage done to the party's reputation. . The little man is actually a manifestation of the power of the King and has extensive knowledge of various local supernatural events. 
  7. A small wooden pyramid that is actually a device to teleport a party right over to the planet Carcosa and its environs. The pyramid will teleport away once its mission is done within 1d4 rounds. 
  8. A small wooden statue of the King which will randomly steal a magic item or technological item only disappear to Carcosa itself. 
  9. A small fish like statue calls upon the power of the elements and enables a party member to repel the power of the King for 1d8 rounds but this will anger the supernatural power and it will remember the fool who has done this and seek vengeance later the party within 1d4 weeks
  10. A small multi faceted gem is found on the ground as soon as its picked up The King In Yellow will come.. within 1d8 rounds.