OSR Review & Commentary On The Victorious Phantasmagoria By Mike Stewart For The Victorious Rpg From Troll Lord Games

 "A gallery of SuperMankind for the Victorious RPG" 

"The Great and the Good!

Persons of Dubious Intent!

Sceptre

With notes on the composition and inhabitants of Darkmore Prison!."

Victorious Phantasmagoria By Mike Stewart is one of those titles that hits the high notes for NPC's for vile villains & supermankind's heroes. Victorious Phantasmagoria clocks in at thirty six pages long and features a wide variety of personalities for the superhero Steampunk setting.This supplement details a number of NPC, both good (9 total) and vile (12 total). Victorious Phantasmagoria features these NPC in a strange way with the 9 heroes being both Victorian & displaced 'modern' superhereos adapting to the strange world of Victorious. 
We get secret organization Spectre which fights the evil of the vile villains in the world Victorious both time displaced & the Victorian threats.There are shades of the secretive organizations of the Penny Dreadfuls. And we finally get details on Darkmore prison the kind of an awful place where the scum of the Earth are locked away. 

Victorious Phantasmagoria's NPC are not as engaging to me as the ones in the main book & there are reasons for this. Victorious Phantasmagoria is a solid supplement but some of the exacution is off in the NPC chronlogies, history, and background. With being said Victorious Phantasmagoria is the third book end in the Victorious rpg bundle because it completes the world of Victorious in a way allowing the DM to use these NPC's as both PC or NPC's for the players. This is prime because it allows the players to dive into the Seige Engine rpg campaign unhindered. 

However  Victorious Phantasmagoria needs a bit of a polish up from the author and Troll Lords with that I think that the classic Steampunk supers rpg book will work much better for the classic rpg.  

Victorious Phantasmagoria By Mike Stewart For The Victorious Rpg From Troll Lord Games Is Available Right Over Here 

OSR Commentary Geoffrey McKinney's Carcosa rpg & Carcosa OSR Resources For The Lamentations of the Flame Princess rpg

 So today on the blog we talked about returned into the fold of Lamentations of the Flame Princess & for me as a DM there's a lot of unresolved issues with Jeffrey McKinney's Carcosa. Carcosa is personal as a DM for there's been at least two campaigns there including a recent romp. 

Because of the 'point crawl' nature of Carcosa over the years there have been lots of encounters. And these include running Nazi fleeing losing World War II from the Earth's moon. But this was before someone alerted me to Lost Carcosa. Lost Carcosa really expanded the setting with a 11 new spells for use with either the Cleric or Magic-User classes, 
21 new magic items,  7 regions, detailed with encounter tables,  50 possible things to find in each region, 
Simplified rules for wilderness generation and exploration, & brief biographies of prominent NPCs and deities. 

So what we've done is used Lost Carcosa by Tristan Tanner as another region of the world of Carcosa one which follows on the heels of Robert W. Chambers, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and Robert E. Howard in addition to the McKinney version. So Lost Carcosa  simply expands upon the material laid down in the Lamentations version. 
So our own version of Carcosa is the place of the lost or damned. A place where player's PC's will be unlucky to survive & with their sanity intact. To me Carcosa is Geoffry McKinney's baby and when paired with the Carcosa Grimoire then things get really interesting! 
Here's the content of the Carcosa Grimoire: 
Random Situations for Carcosa Villages
Carcosa Revised, Again
Carcosan Ethnology Random Tables: Customs
Carcosan Ethnology Tables: Architecture
Carcosan Ethnology: Clothes
Carcosan Ethnology: Body Modifications
Infernal Pigments
Monster: Yix’Caahl
Monster: Enslaver
Monster: The Omniscient Oracle of the Refulgent Maze
Predatory Mantis
Swamp Fell
Nameless Folk
Artifact: Rejuvenating Bath
Magic Item: The Plains of Whispering Glass
NPC: The Witch
New PC Class: The Brothers of the Skull
Carcosan Name/Title Generator
Wilderness Wandering Monster Table
Underworld Wandering Monster Table
Monsters
FAQ

Carcosa is a Lovecraftian Hellscape that over the years I've subject my players to over & over again. Never underestimate the power of dealing an OSR game with resources that the players have never heard of. 

OSR Commmentary & Reskinning Of D1-2 Descent Into the Depths of the Earth By Gary Gygax

 "The final confrontation with the giant, King Snurre, and the entry of mighty adventurers into the cavers under his stronghold discovered that Dark Elves, the Drow, had instigated the giant alliance and its warfare upon mankind and its allied races."

Another one of those classic modules by Gary Gygax that shows the genius and flexibility of the father of Dungeons & Dragons.. ""Shrine of the Kuo-Toa," the second adventure in this collection, was used as part of the D&D tournament at GenCon XI (1978)." What we're really dealing with is a solid exploration and tournament style adventure. Violence is not always the answer with Descent Into The Depths of Earth & mixing & matching campaign elements doesn't take away from this classic module in the least.


Let's begin by changing the Kuo-Toa to Deep Ones which gets in more in tune with the Clark Ashton Smith vibe & HP Lovecraft. There's a certain amount of the Hyperborean cycle within D1-2 with its foul verminous humanoids and Deep One style monsters. The inclusion of  D2: "Shrine of the Kuo-Toa" (1978) gives the whole affair a foulness that sometimes seems to overwhelm the whole affair of the adventure which reminds me of HP Lovecraft's Shadows over Innsmouth.  Originally the Drow were mysterious and merely a legend mentioned in the Monster Manual for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first edition. Here in Descent into The Depths of the Earth their fully realized. I want them back to being weird, twisted, and completely dangerous beings of myth & legend. How can I accomplish this with my limited schedule? Well fortunately Gavin Norman has done the Complete Vivimancer.


Suddenly the Drow are far closer to the bio engineering terrorist nation of Cobra la and less of the fetish & leather crowd that players of later editions seem to love. Yeah that's much better and keeps things rolling along onto my  'Old Earth ' setting. So what exactly are the Drow now? These are Myrkálfar straight out of Norse mythology & legend twisted by super science of space gods eons ago. We see this in the Myrkálfar's god  Atlach-Nacha lair later on.

Artwork used without permission from here
Ropers, Umber Hulks, & many of the iconic monsters of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fit into alien and artificial breeding aspect laid out in this module. All of this ties back into the ideas of A.Merritt & Arthur Machen where the underworld is truly alien which is closer in keeping with the Underborea of Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea then the Underdark of AD&D's later books. All of these are factions in the inner Earth's various underworld adventure locations. This ties back into A.Merritt's 'Moon Pool' & the caches of alien technologies from 'The Metal Monster'. 



All of this ties back in with the planet Cykranosh (or Saturn as we know it today) & with Tsathoggua. Whose machinations have been spinning for centuries leading the fire giants & Myrkálfar alliance. This leads into events happening on Hyperborea where the Deep Ones are beginning their push again for dominance of the land. This connects in with events from The Mystery At Port Greely!

Various caves, caverns, etc of the underworld have ruins & dimensional gate ways that lead off world across the planets & only the gods know where. The events depicted in D1-2 Descent Into The Depths of the Earth could be signaling that the stars are coming right as inhuman powers move the hands of the clock closer and closer.

OSR Commentary On The Hostile Rpg & The Shoulder of Orion Military campaign- Session Report - Rat Attack

 This is going to pick right back up from our last session here. We're hanging out in the shadow of some nameless planet making repairs now to several of our battle fortresses. And doing upgrades to our 'Gypsy fighters'. We've had to cannibalize one of our battle fortresses for spares for the other one. There's been no word from our megacorp's fleet but we've managed to avoid about 90 percent of our Giger Nightmare wasps. 

At the far end of the nameless star system we're in we've received a binary transmission. A transmission where there shouldn't be one! So we send down a couple of shuttles to what we find is a human colony?! There shouldn't be humanity this far out in the middle of the Tanhauser Gate hyperspace route system. 

The colony follows the exact build that we've got in Zozer Games Colony Builder guidelines. Down on the surface we find a 'shake & bake colony minus the atmosphere processor. What the Hell is going on?! We politely transmit on the colony's radio frequency a standard Earth greeting & receive back 'Oh thank God you've come!' 

We're greeted by human colonists once we get inside the air lock & things seem to be going well between us. They ask about food, ammo, and other supplies which we have in abundance and they have fuel from the local gas giant with a Pioneer station in orbit. Why haven't we heard about this colony!? We set up the trade & send out one of explorer crews and two Gypsy fighters just incase. 
And this is when the renagade Epilson's reveal themselves killing Steve's PC with out a word. We open fire on the rest of em. And that's when their 'Gypsy fighters' come out from the sand but we were ready for em! Dropped two rail weapons on their fighters blowing em to Hell. We then cleaned the entire planet to bottom over the course of the next few hours. 
Out at their Pioneer Station the crew wouldn't be receiving a transmission for a couple of days easily. So our crews made short work of the refueling station crew & we installed our own. Then it became a matter of a waiting game for our company's Trent-class Destroyer to catch up with us. 

There's a lot of questions bothering us such as did we get all of em. Who set the 'andy's' out here & are there more hiding in system?! We decided to let one of our synethic experts dig into their A.I.'s and see what the deal is. But this waits until next game. 

So these renagade Andy colonists are straight outta of Shockwave Rider by John Brunner where it was theorized that rogue A.I. would flee mankind before turning on them because of mankind's aggresive nature. Go figure. 

Review & Commentary On 'The Lamentable Companion' By Andrew Marrington For The Lamentations of the Flame Princess rpg From Grimm Aramil Publishing

 Returning to the Lamentations of the Flame Princess rpg  hasn't been on our list of things to do . However Andrew Marrington's The Lamentable Companion came across my desk this morning at about six A.M. That being said DM Pete sent me a copy of The Lamentable Companion. And so I printed out a copy & thumbed through it last night. 

Grimm Aramil publishing has put out OSR material that my group of players have run before and had several TPK's with. And this includes a run in a couple of years ago with the  Chaos Cults: Bubonica. Which pretty much trashed the entire crew. But Andrew Marrington's 'The Lamentable Companion' offers something complete different. A number of options for PC agency within Lamentations & other B/X games. And there's a great table of contents with break downs of sections. Can't tell you how welcome this is at the table top in the middle of DMing. 
And because 'The Lamentable Companion' is only twenty five pages there isn't really a lot of long doddering explainations about new rules. Instead   'The Lamentable Companion' get's right into the meat and heart of the matter with expansions of the 'professsions' found within the Lamentations rule book. And then we get rules on age actually affecting PC's and it's got some good additions to. And hiring hirelings in Lamentations & this is one of the most neglected sections of B/X OSR style systems. 

Ship to ship combat variant rules  is always welcome at the table top level. And the rules are solidly done. They hit the high points of the combat easily. 
And then we get another table of mutations for Lamentations and B/X style games this is welcome for DM's used to dealing out the weird at the table top level. 

And finally we have the Selling Your Soul & this hits the high marks that DM Pete's necromancer has taken & it's a pretty nasty deal. One where your PC respawns in another body of one of the faithful and offers some measure of protection.There's the usual sell your soul for a magic item bit as well. 
And then we have down time between adventures and this one is interesting as well such as property ownership, caurousing and it's missteps, and that's it. There's a ton of  B/X Dungeons & Dragons or OSR clones where these rules could come in very handy. 

Is the 'The Lamentable Companion' By Andrew Marrington  worth the download?! In a word? In a word, yes because it expands the length & breath of B/X games that other authors havent' thought of. There's are real needs for many of these rules as someone whose played & DM'ed lots of Lamentations of the Flame Princess adventures over the years. 

 'The Lamentable Companion' By Andrew Marrington For The Lamentations of the Flame Princess rpg Is Available Right Over Here 

A Piece of The Martian Action - Post Apocalpytic Solar System Campaign Commentary - Barbarian Conquerors of Kanahu & The White Star rpg

 Today is one of those days where time is of the essence & I'm having to pull from my knowledge of Science Fiction & OSR gaming. So the players in our Mars game want to pull on owning their own piece of the action. So let's go back to April 23 of last year & this blog entry where we contrasted Kane of Old Mars by Michael Moorcock & Leigh  Brackett's heroes & anti heroes here. 

Back around that time period we were using Adventurer, Conqueror, Kings rpg Barbarian Conqeurors of Kanahu By our friends Omer Joel, &  Alexander Macris to carve up a piece of the solar system one planet at a time. Can BCK actually be applied to our version of Magic Pig Media's Have Death Ray Will Travel?! 

And if we want to carve up the Stellar Legion taking over various planets against the spiders from Colonial troopers well then BCK has this covered as well. Will this campaign work with the White Star Galaxy edition?! Again quite easily. 

Now we've got a whole lot of solar system scum among our ranks in this party and this brings up Star & Void. Star & Void hits the middle ground with the alignment lining up nicely with all of the old school & OSR resources. Star & Void knights are perfect antagonists against some of the Lovecraftian beasties. And what does this have to do with BCK & Law Vs Chaos?! Welll a bit of everything really. 

Not only does Adventurer, Conqueror, King feature the Law vs Chaos axiom but BCK implies that it's a cosmic principle that overlaps the Lovecraftian. The Lovecraftian aspects fit the implied Moorcock vs Moore & Leigh Brackett solar system. We are not the first tenants of this solar system nor will be the last and there's very little to stop the march of the cosmic line of aliens, gods, and monsters. Well little accept the sanity of the players 

Post Apocalpytic Solar System Campaign Commentary - Dragon Issue #113 Sept 1986 - Hunter Class Robots vs Aliens, Creatures, & Mutants

 Looking through the classic Dragon magazine issue#113 Sept 1986  for an NPC idea for our  post apocalytic White Star & Warriors of the Red  rpg powered campaign last night. I came across an old classic article for Gamma World 2nd edition. 

 The classic second edition  Gamma World rpg article 'Cold Steel' by Scott A Hutcheon  details the Hunter class of robots. These cybernetic organisms have appeared in my campaign time & again.  Since we're almost done with the Red Shadow faction. Perhaps it's time to introduce the players to another rather nasty NPC. 

Hunter-class robots for Gamma World (Bruce Mackley, Dragon 113, September 1986)
via the old school tumbler here. 

We've used these cybernetic organisms before to call them simple robots is a disservice to these entities. In our games over the years we've given them personalities, motives, and goals because these things are equipped to take on full blown mecha and survive. Sure their no match for a Gamma World second edition death machine. But these things can & will take out mutant demi gods with little issue. And when your dealing with experienced players there should be entities way above your party's paygrade. The Cybohunter is a beast ;'TYPE: Cybernetic Hunter/Tracker NUMBER: 1 ARMOR: 1 HIT DICE: 30d10 CONTROL: D/G SENSORS: A/B/D/E/F (Scent) POWER: A/D200 MS: 1d4 + 12 IN: 1d10 + 11 DX: 1d10 + 11 PS: 5d10 + 30 SPEED: FEET = 24/1800/72 STATUS: Rank' 
Monsters like Magic Pig Media's Star Kraken or the Cosmic Behemoth are capable of ruining a party's day from  Outer Space Raiders Volume 2: Aliens, Creatures & Foes. So entities like the Cybohunter are not that far off base when it comes to higher level encounters. 

A post apocapytic solar system is one that will be frought with perils and the Hunter series takes this into account. According to 'Cold Steel's author; "Take, for example, the Hunter series of combat robots, which was founded on one basic concept: The bigger they are, the harder they hit. Although not as powerful overall as Death Machines or Warbots, these devices provide much more challenge to an overconfident adventuring group than Security Robots. Note that some specimens of these devices have been modified in the postholocaust years to take into account mutational powers possessed by animals, plants, and humans. Numerous variations on these basic designs may also exist." 
Surely I'm being unfair with such a powerhouse of a series of cybernetic entities?! Well yes & no, let's turn the clock back to 2015 when Ivanhoe Unbound was publishing material. And Aliens, Androids, & Aberrations slid across my desk. 

As you can see it doesn't take a genius to combined these various resources and AAA gives yet another perspective rpg resource to this campaign. Combined with the mecha rules from White Star Galaxy Edition then the threat of the Hunter class doesn't seem so far fetched 

Next time forbidden technologies, The Mutant Future connection, and more coming up. 

The Threat of The Magus - The Invisible College rpg By Rpg Pundit & The Wretched New Flesh - Postcards from Avalidad Quickstart By Miguel Ribeiro, Sílvia Clemente, & Manuel Sousa

 So there's been an ongoing debate among my players about just how much of a threat that one Hermetic mage could be to a near future of the world of  Avalidad. And of course without being familiar with the world of 'The Invisible College' these guys are going to be in for a very rough time. 
This blog post picks right up from this blog post here. 

One society of mages are the ones that could cause our party of Avalidad adventurers to pack it in and go running back to their mommies. And that would be the Nemite Hive who believe in shedding the flesh & humanity ultimately believing that giving up the individual will save the planet. These morons believe in giving into their queen who is a transformed former member of the society of Typhon. Nemi was once a normal human possibly back in the 70's or 80's who became something more or less then human. 

What would a Nemite magician be doing in Avalidad?! Why recruiting and kidnapping new members for the hive. And this is not going to sit very well with Zonsec at all. Our Nemite magican could be starting another hive or cult centered within Avalidad. He might be using drones to kidnap high ranking members of society & forcably turn them into Nemite members of a local hive. This is being done to propel the Nemite's brain trust deeper into occult circles. 

Not only is this Nemite magician a threat to the local occult & supernatural scene as well as being an invasive supernatural influence within  Avalidad. And the Invisible College can be used to add a very detailed ritual magick system to the Postcards from Avalidad rpg. Thus  allowing the Avalidad magicians to meet the Nemites on thier own ground. 

The Invisible College is also could be used to move a Giallo horror campaign forward in  Avalidad. The occult  conspiracies of the Invisible College could help explain horrorific nature of the Earth in Postcards from Avalidad. So bringing this forward a group of starting Postcards from Avalidad adventurers could well find itself overwhelmed with the supernatural influences bleeding out from beneath the occult cracks of reality. 

I've been elevator pitching a Post Cards Avalidad rpg campaign for some months & it's a matter of both back to school & work  schedules. But there is  the missionary work of  The Sisters of the Seven Sins (Wretched Version) in the upper circles of society in Avalidad. And will the magus of Avalidad notice all of the horrors around them?! 

Enter The Desert Muton - A White Star rpg , Warriors of The Red Planet & Hyperborea rpg - Post Apocalpytic Solar System Campaign- Actual Play Event

 So if you've been following the progress of the current campaign then you know that things are about to get very messy the player's PC's think that they've escaped the Red Shadows. But nothing could be further from the truth! 
The Red Shadows have seen this as an opportunity to test our their new Desert Muton cybernetic trooper! 

Now I've got to give credit where credit is due. This is a custom Red Shadow Muton figure from Histank.com forum's member 46 Zone here. The figure hails from 2018 but it's very topical with the players never even having heard of a Muton. 

Red Shadows Desert Muton Trooper 

AC: 6 

Hit Dice 4

HDE/XP: 3/77

Total Hitpoints:+4 

Movement:13   

Special: See Below 
Attack: By Weapon 

13 Weapon Mini missile anti personal load 1d6+2, or 7 Homer Anti Personel Mini missiles  2d6+3 able to follow targets for 40 yards around corners & obstacles,6 Cracker Mini missile Loads 3d6+1, Laser pistol side arm  1d6+2

Special Abilities - Hive Link with the Shadow A.I., Immune to charm, telepathy, and any mind influencing abilities. The Red Shadows are in constant cybertelepathic contact with the Shadow A.I. 

See All System - The Muton is equiped with incredible sensor systems having darkvision, infravision, & other more esoteric sensors built into it's cybernetic systems. So the Muton gains a +3 to all rolls related to finding & tracking targets 

Charlie Desert Cybernetic Systems - the Muton is immune to all overheating & desert conditions. The Desert Muton can stay submerged in the sands of Mars for years  at a clip before being activated. It's systems are sealed against the harsh sand conditions 

Programmed Tracking - The Muton is able to track targets through even the harshed conditions easily. +4 on all Tracking rolls 

The Mutons are cybernetically convert Red Shadow troopers who have been completely cybernetically converted into the ultimate loyal cyber soldier. They are able to operate in a wide variety of planetary conditions and including outer space. Their mini missiles have a range of 120 feet and can explode under the Muton's control. The Shadow A.I. can see through any of it's Muton able to take control at a moment's notice to be in the middle of the action. 

So the PC's find themselves in the middle of a weapons test with a deadly advesary will they survive?! 

Review & Commentary On 'Victorious Rule Britania' By Mike Stewart For The Victorious Rpg From Troll Lord Games

 
"Ruling over the oceans and a quarter of the Earth’s surface, the British Empire is unarguably the Superpower of the Nineteenth century. Yet cracks appear in the façade of Anglo-Saxon superiority, and nefarious forces are determined to overthrow Queen Victoria’s realm. Details abound on turn of the century British society, cities, and figures that Victorious heroes and heroines might encounter for good or ill."

Victorious Rule Britania is the book end of Manifest Destiny where Manifest Destiny covers the United States of Victorious in detail. Victorious Rule Britania covers the United Kingdom & especially Victorious London in great detail. Victorious Rule Britania covers the point  of Supermankind in places, people, & society.  Regions of London, it's underworld, people, etc are given their duty within this campaign setting book. And it's this attention to detail of the world of Victorious rpg that stands out. New York & London are the campaign settings for Victorious as England is the center of the Earth super power during the Victorian era. 
And so Victorious Rule Britania places the action & the PC's at the center of the alternative Steampunk events. And these can be used as adventure hooks. Mike Stewart again knows his subject very well giving a sense of agency & gratis to the world of Victorious. And Britian's London is at the height of it's power where the Sun never sets and vile villains are just around the corner. We get a great selection of areas & NPCs to drop right into our Victorian era adventures.

 

And we get a heaping of the frontiers of that empire & we get the historical NPC's from the edges of empire to create adventures centered on Britiannia. 
'Victorious Rule Britania' By Mike Stewart features the gentlemen & ladies of the day such as Conan Doyle, H.G.Wells, and many more. We get the finer points of these movers & shakers of empire for example;"Oscar Wilde: He is a Good mortal bard whose vital statistics are: Level 2; Hit Points 12; Armor Class 10. His prime attributes are Wisdom and Charisma. His significant skills are Etiquette 1 (Polite), Fine Arts 2 (Writing), and Thespian 1."  Oscar Wilde was one of the defining personalities, thespians, and all around scandals of the Victorian era.  And even in an era of Supermankind these historic NPC have their gravitas and place within a Victorious campaign. 
'Victorious Rule Britania' also includes heavy hitters like Captain Nemo; "Captain Nemo Proper Name: Prince Dakkar of India Strength: 12 (+0) Dexterity: 18 (+3) Constitution: 10 (+0) Intelligence: 25 (+7) Wisdom: 9 (+0) Charisma: 17 (+2) INIT: +0 Actions: 1 per round AC: 10, +3 (Dodge) Defensive: None Hit Points: 36 Level: 8 Alignment: Neutral Victory Points: 0 Skills: Etiquette 1 (Polite), Firearms 1, Linguist 5 (English, French, German, Greek, Latin [Hindu native]), Melee 1, Prime 2 (Intelligence, Charisma), Profession 1 (Nautical Arts), Science 2 (Engineering, Oceanography), Survival 1 (Ocean), Thespian 2 (Organ, Storytelling), Wealth 2 (Sunken treasures) Supernatural Powers: Attribute 2 (+10 bonus), Invention 5, Mesmerism 1 Packages: None Shortcomings: Dependent Mundane (Crew of Nautilus), Enemy 2 (Great Britain), Looking for a Broom Closet, Phobia (Code of Honor), Phobia (Hates British), Secret Identity (Prince Dakkar) Equipment: Nautilus Submersible (See Hunter & Hunter Catalogue)". 
We can make out that 'Victorious Rule Britania' By Mike Stewart is sweeping overview of a campaign setting book & it works on a number of levels.  'Victorious Rule Britania' works as a quick campaign setting book for Victorious rpg when the DM doesn't have time to do a full on adventure but has to put his party in the middle of England. Two 'Victorious Rule Britania' can be used to fill in London or it's environs as an urban adventure landscape for Victorious. Three there's all of the information on England, it's empire, and the crown jewel of London as a complete ready to go campaign for Victorious. 

'Victorious Rule Britania' By Mike Stewart is a lovely little gem of a campaign book that has a bit of everything that DM needs to set his or her game of Victorius in Victoria's England & London. The PC's can rub shoulders with Conan Doyle, consult with H.G. Wells, and find themselves against the knives of Jack The Ripper. I think that 'Victorious Rule Britania' is one of the essential books for Victorious. And 'Victorious Rule Britania' By Mike Stewart needs to be among the tools of the DM who wants to run the era of 'the sun never sets on the Empire of England' with supers. 

'Victorious Rule Britania' By Mike Stewart For The Victorious Rpg From Troll Lord Games  Is Available Here. 

OSR Commentary On The Hostile Rpg & The Shoulder of Orion Military campaign- Session Report - Hornet's Nest

 This is going to pick right up from our last blog entry here and the 'night timer squadron' were escorting our  runners in Gypsy ships tailing our explorers &  our own version of CCA scout crews. And then something fast & deadly came up out of the atmosphere of a nearby gas giant after we exited the Tanhauser Gate hyperspace way. Our party now as we learned from our mistakes the last time & let the Frontier Crawlers act as bait. 

Basically the Gypsy ships are drive systems built around weapon systems able to move & manuveur fast but are not as armored as they should be. These 'things' were part biomechanical & part drives looking like a combination of wasp & H.G. Giger's nightmare. Last game we  after exitting the hyperspace gate via Tanhauser Gate we got  getting a running battle with a cruiser near this nameless rock. After taking on surivors & getting a chance to reskill our crew dived back into the gate system. 

This game we ran into alien fighters that moved like nothing we've seen but still blew up real pretty once we applied 'c beams' to em. But we did lose one of our battle modules the mobile refueling & launch points four Gypsy ships. All of these battle stations came directly out of &  can easily be designed from Independence Games Port of Entry Starports in the Clement sector book. 

Now after doing a some burns & rolls our ships are behind a planet's dark side in low orbit to regroup after a grueling session. So right now it's a matter of run & hide till the rest of the fleet catches up with us. But will we survive?! We're low on fuel and hiding like rats. 

Is Doctor Mabuse In -- The Night Shift Veterans of the Supernatural Rpg With The Orpheum Lofts By Miguel Ribeiro, Sílvia Clemente, & Joe Coombs For The Wretchexploitation & The Wretched Époque rpg Session Two

 "Countess Dusy Told: I have learned of something that until recently I didn't believe, that there still apparently exists in this world something more valuable and more deeply moving than the strongest thrill. Love , , ,

"Dr. Mabuse: There is no love. There is only desire! There is no happiness. There is only the will to power!"
Dr. Mabuse the Gambler 1922

Dr. Mabuse is an arch criminal of the highest order and the party ran across him in last night's game. 1970's New York City is the perfect atmosphere for the good doctor ecomomic instability, poverty, a fuel shortage, and a rolocking criminal underworld. 

The PC's have been stumbling about New York City's underworld & heard about the 'Club 17+4' an underground gambling den run by a criminal syndicate. The 'Club 17+4' is actually the haven for a particularly nasty supernatural entity known as Doctor Mabuse the Gambler an arch fiend & criminal underworld mastermind. 

The party is trying gain information on an underground artifact & relic black market that happens every Fall in New York. Things went from bad to worse as they began losing money at the table top due to baddice  rolls. 

Mabuse is a 6th level immortal (he lost his original body ages ago), 7th level gadgeteer,  & a 3rd level demonic entity out of the Nightshift Veterans of the Supernatural Wars Companion.  Marbuse is sizing up the party through one of his human suits. Mabuse worked with Mr.Hyde during the end of WWII in Germany destorying the last parts of the Nazi machine. 

Mabuse gave the party an assignment to settle the gambling debt instead of having his vampire bodyguards take it out of thier hides or so he believes. The party thinks they can take the good Doctor but are going along. The Von Lang the witch that Mabuse has working for him is actually a member of the covens of The Orpheum Lofts By Miguel Ribeiro, Sílvia Clemente, & Joe Coombs. 

Mabuse has an assignment for them, he wants them to recover an artifact from a medical center across town a rundown old hospital,The Ernest Spencer Memorial. Which is where Hyde is operating out of with help from his witch coven allies. There have been a series of ritual murders of home  which have attracted the attention of the police.  Hyde & Mabuse are  going to pin these murders on the party. 

Mabuse came straight out of the 1922 silent film by Fritz Lang Dr. Mabuse and according to the Wiki entry here; "Dr. Mabuse is a master of disguise and telepathic hypnosis known to employ body transference, most often through demonic possession, but sometimes utilizing object technologies such as television or phonograph machines, to build a "society of crime". Mabuse rarely commits his crimes in person, instead operating primarily through a network of agents enacting his schemes. Mabuse's agents range from career criminals working for him, to innocents blackmailed or hypnotized into cooperation, to dupes manipulated so successfully that they do not realize that they are doing exactly what Mabuse planned for them to do.

"Mabuse's identity often changes; one "Dr. Mabuse" may be defeated and sent to an asylum, jail or the grave, only for a new "Dr. Mabuse" to later appear, as depicted in The Testament of Dr. Mabuse."

The party has faced down Mabuse before going back about three years ago when they ran across another Dr.Mabuse who was in league with a necromancer stealing the secrets of the of dead. And these events go back to the first Victorious rpg game we played.

They destroyed that one but never learned the arch criminal behind the black magick goings on. Here we have a much more hands on approach. But will the PC's survive the wilderness of the New York City underworld?!