Revisiting Hulks and Horrors Basic Black Edition Rpg Pdf Now Free On Drivethrurpg

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Hulks and Horrors rpg pdf is now  free on Drivethrurpg. Hulks and Horrors is built upon the premise of many OSR retroclone game engines and takes the theme of dungeon crawling into space with bells on. Yes its built along the premise of the world's most popular fantasy rpg but takes it in its own directions mostly because of the author's voice and design sense.
The cover almost seems a throw back to old school video games.
This is a game that hearkens back to OD&D in every sense of the word but takes the twists and turns of using it as a science fictional game of galactic exploration on its own merits.
The background of Hulks and Horrors is as follows according to the Drivethrurpg blurb: 

We are not alone in the Universe, but we have few friends. As we emerged on the galactic stage, we found a universe stripped bare of sentient life by a great Plague, leaving only the wild beasts and twisted plague horrors wandering the ruined hulks of lost civilizations.

We are the Surveyors. We explore the uncharted sectors of space and hunt these ruins for the treasures they contain and the riches they might bring to what sentient life remains. We are not brave, merely foolhardy and desperate. Those who survive become rich beyond dreams. Very few survive. Hulks & Horrors is a science-fiction roleplaying game of galactic exploration and adventure for 2 or more players ages 13 and up. Inside you will find:

• Complete rules for characters up to Level 6 and beyond

• 7 character classes: Pilot, Scientist, Soldier, Psyker, Hovering Squid, Omega Reticulan, and Bearman.

• Easy to learn old-school inspired game rules and combat system

• Weapons, armor, and equipment inspired by classic science-fiction

• Spaceship construction and combat rules

• Random tables for creating whole sectors of space

• Loot generation rules

• Dozens of alien monsters as well as guides for designing your own

• Dungeon-mastering advice for sandbox space exploration

• Optional rules for customizing Hulks & Horrors

Hulks and Horrors does everything it says on the tin and a bit more. Characters are disposable in this game - they're generated quickly and disposed of just as quickly. Roll up your 3d6 stats and choose a character class and move into a galactic dungeon to really move the campaign along quick. 

The 7 character classes: Pilot, Scientist, Soldier, Psyker, Hovering Squid, Omega Reticulan, and Bearman are all set and ready to play so that you can throw the  PC's into the deep end of hulk exploration. The equipment in the game has some very broad applications that enable a DM to get parties into so very nasty situations quickly and generate adventures that will have players having fun. 

 This is really a DM friendly game with lots of random charts, design tools, and  dungeon generation  bits to round out adventures fast. 

 The monster section is evocative, interesting, and tells the old school origins of the game really. Here are the twisted, horrid, and psychotic remains of what could be termed galactic ruin fodder. I thumbed through the monster section and already three adventure possibilities popped into my head. The game is just like that. 

Because the core rpg system is so simple the whole of the rest of the game brings the optional and customization factor in by an order of eleven. This makes the game both a science fictional DYI retro clone in some respects and makes is an encompassing whole system all under one cover. 

This game includes everything you as a DM need to create complete and full science fictional OD&D style campaigns and adventures. Its a very well thought out and complete system. 

So why isn't this one of the core OSR science fictional game systems? I think that the timing of the game is actually to blame not the game itself. Hulks and Horrors came out in the shadow of Stars Without Numbers which has gone on to be one of the OSR's hallmark game systems. Shrugs. 

That's fine and there's room on the shelves for all kinds of OSR systems and more. But I think if you don't grab this game for free then your going to be missing out. For one thing there are enough tools in this tool box that can be used for a number of old school science fictional applications with easy. The dungeon generating systems are a very well thought out and would work with your version of the worlds most popular game.PC generation is fast and so learning the game is very easy.  Then there's the fact that many of these systems that are within Hulks and Horrors could be used with your old school science fictional versions of D&D with a bit of work. 

All in all this is a fine game and it really deserves a chance to be looked at on its own merits. Download it, take a look, and get some friends and get a game in.