'Crash & Burn' - Cepheus Engine Rpg PC Workshop & Session Report One

 So tonight there's been a DM's meeting & we're putting together another Hostile rpg Setting Cepheus Engine rpg one shot. 



Out on a Terran type worldlet in the 'Playing Out Among The Rocks' campaign setting a crew of marines & a special team of mecha recovery experts are trying to grab an A.I. called 'Alexander' from the wreckage of a Russian-influenced Confederation 'Robo Jox'. This worldlet known as Parson's Hammer is a rich bevy of mecha wreckage from the War of Miracles.. The fact is that its often a planetoid where two Xenomorph hives have made wreckage recovery next to impossible. 

This is our player's homage to the cultclassic film 'Robo Joxs' & its been a huge hit with our crew for many years now. Recently it was brought to my attention on the Axes & Orcs blog a conversion of 'Stars Without Number rpg  & Battletech' 

We already have marine, psionics, & others ready to go for tonight's game. Now with zero time we remembered the film RoboJox & again my buddy DM Steve pointed out this great homage site called Master Cylinder. This is where the incredible Robo Joxs film poster came from. 

So we compromised for tonight's Cepheus Engine rpg game. And the players are recovering an A.I. from  The whole planetoid is swarming with Xenomorphs & no one knows why?! 

What no one knows including the players is fact that 'Parson's Hammer' was a battle ground between mecha & A.I. controlled horrors. The fact that mercenary forces often land here to gather mecha for rich Pan Asian & Galatatic collectors has  not gone unnoticed.. A group of Reticulan scientists from across the 'Anger' the psionic storm raging have used as momentary hyperspace time corridor to make an excursion to Parson's Hammer. And they've got a 'duck blind' science station set up with warbots to kidnap anyone they come across. The technology is straight outta of TSAO:50 Wonders of the Reticulan Empire. 




This  very nasty group of Reticulans has used the worldlet  as a staging ground for their own hives of Alien Breeds. Will the marines survive?! Who knows!? Game coming up next week folks. 

The inspiration for this campaign one shot came from stumbling across this excellent post on Io9 from artist Robert Simmons whose own Robo Jox  homage artwork really capture DM Steve's imagination. 

Our marines guide is a NPC clone  of the"gen jox" named Athena  a copy of the original pilot from original batch of pilots from the Robot Joxs. She was worked up using the rules from Zozer Games Synethetics rules from Hostile. We'll be reviewing those rules coming up. 

Who is Athena really working for?! The players are very skeptical & there's evidence that she's got the Pan Asian collision's interests at heart. There's the fact that a strange unknown craft is in deep orbit around 'Parson's Hammer' & no one knows who or what is is?!