Star Without Number Revised Campaign - Mixing Trey Causey's Strange Stars & Terra Arisen rpg -Terrans & Reticulans

  Let's pick it up right from here on the blog for our  Trey Causey's Strange Stars Stars Without Number campaign. This ties in with  the Reticulans of the Terra Arisen campaign setting.The idea here is that the Reticulans control more then one of the hyperspacial gateways of their empire. 

The Reticulan empire is still economically solvent because of the fact that they impose a small toll on all interstellar traffic. This enables the empire to collect on resources, technology, and more through these tolls. 

The exports of the Reticulan empire include modified Terrans to the empire's client races. The Terrans are their own easily modified resource and they get farmed out to the modified races. The Reticulans see this as only natural. 
Cybernetic warriors, modified space going workers, etc. all are exported by the Reticulan empire. This idea and ethos something that the Vokun are only too happy to buy into. The idea of using another race to fight wars, take on the harder ideals of interstellar trade and negotiations. What could be better. Possibly making a profit. Here's where the Slavers of Strange Stars have come into their own by buying these cybernetically and biologically modified Terrans and twisting them further. Then selling them to their own client races and marking them up making a profit in the process. 

So is it any doubt as too why the Terrans have rebelled with such force against the Reticulan Empire?! The Reticulans are loathed by the Terrans. But it goes deeper then this. The Terrans are a reflection to a certain extent of the Reticulans having been deep in the trenches of the empire with the lesser Reticulans and their clans. The client races of the Reticulan empire are taken aback by the violence and cunning of the Terrans after the rebellion. 

How do the client races who use the modified Terrans feel about these recent current events?! This places the Terrans in a modified position. Well get into this next time. 

Review & Commentary The Freedom-class Merchant Vessel Written by Independence Games starship guru, Michael Johnson For The Clement Sector Rpg

 "The Freedom-class Merchant Vessel is a starship from the days before grav drives and grav plates changed everything. A 400-tonne ship built in 2204 and squarely marketed to those enterprising enough to brave the frontier and head out to the new colonies in Earth Sector and Clement Sector, the ship was state of the art in its time. Now, over a hundred years later, the ship could be considered a bit of a dinosaur yet many continue to swear by this stalwart, especially the waldlaufers in Ariel Sector who value nothing more than their independence and their Freedoms."

"Written by Independence Games starship guru, Michael Johnson, inside this book you'll find a detailed breakdown of the Freedom-class, including its history, specifications, deck plans, and multiple variants”plus financing options, cargo configurations, and planetary landing procedures. Alongside these essential details, dive into A Visit to Miss Kitty's, a short story by John Watts that gives insight into the life of a waldlaufer making his way in a dangerous universe."

The Freedom-class Merchant Vessel  written by Independence Games starship guru, Michael Johnson is one of those trader starships is perfect for the adventuring party within Clement sector. Why?! Because star ships such as the Freedom class Merchant vessels are the heart and soul of the colonies in the Clement sector rpg campaign setting. 
There are a couple of other details about this starship that make it perfect for an adventurer's star craft. One is the fact that this ship has a low crew compliment, lots of great details & this ship can take a high value and low value cargoes.  The Freedom class is 400-tonne ship built in 2204 and squarely marketed to those enterprising enough to brave the frontier. This means that the Freedom is perfect for an experienced group of adventurers and traders. Since the Clement sector is an Old West analogy the Freedom is the perfect bridge gap between the 'Black' and the deep  colonies of the Clement sectors. 

The Freedom-class Merchant Vessel is well written and the artists do a fantastic job of bringing the Freedom to life. The layout for this book is well done, the font is easy on the eyes, and this book is up to Independence Games usual standards. 

The Freedom-class Merchant Vessel  is a fantastic starship for adventurers because is creates an opportunity for adventure and trade among the stars of the Clement sector. As a side hustle for adventurers the Freedom merchant class presents a classic star craft in the tradition of 2d6 classic Science Fiction rpg. The year is 2342.  Adventure awaits in the crew quarters of the Freedom class merchant vessel.. 

It All Begins In A Pirate Town - 'Sea Kings of The Of the Purple Towns' by Fred Behrendt For Both The Stormbringer rpg & Your Old School Or OSR Campaigns

 "Between the Oldest Ocean and the Eastern Ocean lies the Isle of Purple Towns, the center of commerce and trade in the Young Kingdoms."

"Sailing into port, visitors are impressed with the magnificent buildings, the splendid markets, and friendly people. Few see the undercurrents, the dirty deals, and the politics which threaten to rip apart the apparent serenity of the island.

The Isle of Purple Towns is a haven for adventurers, a safe port to count money and plan future deeds of daring. It lies literally in the middle of the world, and ships sail from Purple Towns ports to every other nation."

If there's one or more essential books for the Stormbringer rpg or even running a Stormbringer rpg style game then its for us at least its gotta be 'Sea Kings of The Of the Purple Towns' by Fred Behrendt. Not a really well known book today which is too bad. This series of loosely interconnected adventures has everything going for it. This situation with the adventures, they make an excellent starting point for a Stormbringer or OSR campaign.

'Sea Kings of The Of the Purple Towns' by Fred Behrendt presents a two part campaign setting & adventure package.The first half of the island is very well detailed within this 125-page sourcebook. The people,history, background, notable NPC's, etc are all gone over in this book in detail. The island & its environs were once the home of the Melnibonean navy & the piratical sea kings have carved out their own niche as responsible merchants who worship the forces of Law. The adventures within 'Sea Kings of The Of the Purple Towns'  can be played individually or as a linked campaign.

"The Strong Arms" is a sort of a shell of an adventure that centers around the acquisition of a tavern & can serve as the central hub of the campaign or not. "Sisters of Chaos" is a cut above the usual Stormbringer weirdness. This is a solid adventure & flows right into the "The Unholy Fortress" which is a straight up epic adventure in full on Sword & Sorcery goodness. This adventure is one part Sea Kings & three parts guarding the bones of a dead god against the forces that wish to exploit them. This is an epic adventure unto itself it remains true to the Stormbringer spirit.

One of the things that we did with 'Sea Kings of The Of the Purple Towns' is to use the island as a base of operations for our adventurers. We also became merchants & traders within the Young Kingdoms. And to trade we used the Runequest rpg book  'Cities'. We used this book for our ports of call & various urban locations. This is what we did with it.

'Cities' came out in 1990 & is a series of very well done random encounter charts that can be adapted for any system. And this is where things get very interesting because 'Cities' can be used to fill in the gaps for a campaign as easy of the roll of the dice. And this makes these books perfect for OSR campaign. This is especially true if you like tinkering with systems. This means that Adventurer,Conqueror, King rpg  can't be far behind.

Both books quite readily fit the vibe of Stormbringer quite nicely but they can easily be part of an on going sea faring ACK's campaign.The base system provides everything that the DM is going to have to pull apart to make a successful campaign. The thing about this campaign is that it has to be pulled off in sections from the beginning to the episodic nature of such a campaign.

All in all 'Sea Kings of The Of the Purple Towns' by Fred Behrendt was way ahead of its time in terms a series of adventures that links together to form both a great beginning & continuing campaign. Highly recommended.

OSR Review & Commentary On Wretched Folklore Enhanced Edition By Mathew Thomas For The Wretched Country and Wretched Epoque rpg

 "Wretched Folklore: Enhanced Edition updates the monsters and the Spiritualist class to align with the current edition of the Wretched RPG. The bestiary includes creatures inspired by both Native American and European folklore to use in your Wretched Country and Wretched Apoque campaigns. It also introduces additional shaman rituals, new rules for kung fu, and mechanics for creating steampunk contraptions. All of this will enrich your 19th-century campaigns, whether they unfold in the wild prairies or the slums of Paris."

Wretched Folklore Enhanced Edition By Mathew Thomas is a Wretched title that comes in right on time! This is a freshening up of the Wretched Folklore by Mathew Thomas! Wretched Folklore Enhanced Edition updates the spells, rituals, & monsters inspired by both Native American and European folklore.  The highlight of the book is the Spiritualist class. This supplement bring the heat with brand new material for your Wretched Country and Wretched Epoque rpg campaigns.  Wretched Folklore Enhanced is perfectly suited for use with Wretched Epoque rpg. 

 The material within Wretched Folklore Enhanced Edition dovetails within Wretched Country revised with expanded Kung Fu martial arts rules, & expanded rules for Mad Science as well as Steampunk devices or inventions. These expansions of the rules found within the Expanded Wretched Rpg. 

The Expanded Wretched rpg has a great feel & turns both Wretched Country and Wretched Epoque into fully realized campaign settings. This means that the player's PC's can literally dive right into the campaign from the get go. 
This ulility feels like it expands itself into  Wretched Folklore Enhanced Edition. Why because this mixed bag of material blends right into the background easily. 

The material here is easily blended into the background of the 19th century of Wretched Country and Wretched Epoque rpg campaigns seamlessly. The systems are optional but well thought out in spades. 
The material here is full of substance that enhances the campaign value of your games on so many levels. 
The material is solidly done within Wretched Folklore Enhanced Edition. And I highly recommend this supplement to get your games cooking along with solid material to get a campaign going within about 10 minutes or so. And it's a great supplement on so many levels. 

Review & Commentary Shadowmercs -- A Shadowdark 1980's Action-Adventure Supplement For The Shadowdark rpg

 "You were in The War. Things went wrong.

You and your comrades were charged with a crime you didn’t commit.
Now, you and your Team are back in The World and on the run.
You and your Team make your way in life the only way you know how… you are Shadowmercs."

"You served in The War at home, in the Concrete Jungle, protecting those who could not protect themselves.
But there is a Bigger World out there. The junk that is ruining lives comes from Out There.
If you want to stop it, and make Your World a better place, you need to take the fight to Them.
You and your Team have only your guts, your guns, and your mighty martial arts¦ you are Shadowmercs."

Shadowmercs -- A Shadowdark 1980's Action-Adventure Supplement For The Shadowdark rpg is the latest offering from James Mishler, &  Jodi Moran-Mishler. Shadowmerc presents an alternative set of 1980's action & television rules. Yes these are cinematic Shadowdark rpg rules for running 80's action adventures for your players. 
The PC's in Shadowmercs are taken outta of these TV show inspired influences: 

 Shadowmercs uses modified rules for Armor Class, Hit Points, Unconsciousness, Dying, and Healing, appropriate for the Action-Hero genre;

Modern backgrounds for modern Action Heroes, with an expanded cinematic Luck Token system;

Six new classes:
The Armsman, master of gun-fu and blazing bullets;
The Brawler, master of martial arts and weapon-katas;
The Driver, master of any vehicle that moves on land, sea, or air;
The Faceman, master of manipulating people to get what they want;
The Operator, master of plans and leadership who makes a team's luck;
The Scout, master of bushcraft and survival and lots and lots of weapons!

So Shadowmercs provides about fifty seven pages of Shadowdark rpg action rules style rules & this includes a ton of modern fire arms, equipment, adventure tables, and more. All centered around a cinematic take on the Shadowdark simplified engine. 

The Shadowdark rpg of Shadowmercs looks like a great supplement. But it's not for me as a DM. 
This isn't a slight on the Shadowdark role playing game. Let me explain. I'm a Castles & Crusades rpg fanatic and enjoy that system and Shadowmercs could easily be grafted into C&C but it's already got a cinematic system in Amazing Adventures reforged. 
However, Shadowmercs fits a far more specialized niche with the A Team, James Bond, Superspy genre of Shadowdark rpg adventures. 

Shadowmercs plugs into the 99% of the Shadowdark Rpg to turn it on it's ear and get deeply into the superspy and Pulpy genre of the fiction and television to present an alternative set of rules that works. 

Review of 'The Shattered Isle: Rebels Against the Mutant Master' (Eternal Champion Series) By Steve Perrin, Sandy Petersen, & Charlie Krank For The classic Stormbringer Rpg & The Hawkmoon Box Set

 

Sometimes we don't understand the sigificance of an adventure until much later on in life, such is the fate of 'The Shattered Isle: Rebels Against the Mutant Master' By Kerie Campbell-Robson, Steve Perrin, and Sandy Petersen published in '87 by Chaosium.

The first half of the book is new rules, fixes for the classic Hawkmoon box set, new masked orders of the Granbretanian empire & a sprawling campaign. This is not a lower tier campaign adventure for either Hawkmoon or Stormbringer, the stakes are high, the adventure elements go from gritty to full on cosmic & the adventure campaign could be lethal.

 'The Shattered Isle: Rebels Against the Mutant Master' is a crossover adventure between the classic Chaosium Stormbringer rpg & Hawkmoon box set. 'The Shattered Isle: Rebels Against the Mutant Master' is the classic wizard messing around with a high level technological/occult relic to break the barriers of the planes. This isn't your run of the mill wizard instead this is the mutant master whose responsible for the entirety of the bio weapon system program of the Tragic Millennium Europe take over. Zhenader is a wizard scientist of the Granbretanian empire who controls the entire country of  Eire is Irish for "Ireland", the name of the island and   the sovereign state.  Zhenader  has gone completely rogue after finding a Fairy mound, other worldly artifact, & broken the planar barrier into the Million Spheres.

He is not someone to trifle with at all because he's also found the armory of Eire & a host of pre Tragic Millennium weapons, artifacts, & more
The weapons are a weird mix of Eighties military technologies & Granbretanian empire weapon systems. This makes sense but its still gives a very strange impression. And its this impression of the weird where 'The Shattered Isle: Rebels Against the Mutant Master' excels. 

We mentioned the word sprawling &  'The Shattered Isle: Rebels Against the Mutant Master'   has the PC's coming face to face with some of the more dangerous NPC's their going to be facing. We get warriors from across the 'Young Kingdoms' to the peoples of Corum these are all in the hands of  Zhenader. Things go from bad to worse for the PC's. But their is light at the end of the tunnel & its not a train. The party is going to have to do some very fancy foot work but its a good adventure. 'The Shattered Isle: Rebels Against the Mutant Master'  is just weird enough to be engaging but actually playable. This is a campaign that is going to take months to work through. The possibilities of dimensional travel are high & even beyond. We have used this campaign as a pick up adventure with Rogue Mistress in the past so this is a strong possibility as well. This is a campaign that can go from 3 months to about a year or better to mop up every aspect of the machinations of the top tier villain

With a bit of work on the dungeon master's part I actually think that this could be a really good module for an extended game of both classic Stormbringer & Hawkmoon. 

OSR Commentary on The Gunslinger Rpg Strange Science in The Arizona Territory

 "Gunslinger Roleplaying Game Core Rules

Welcome to the Weird and Wondrous Wild West!

Saddle up, partner, and prepare to embark on an unbridled journey through a science-fantasy adventure, inspired by the yarns of classic western lore and the pulp fiction sagas of the early 20th-century. Gunslinger, the thrilling roleplaying game, is here to send you on a white-knuckle escapade, galloping through the untamed frontiers of the Arizona territory in the era of the Wild West."

 Gunslinger rpg has been on my hard drive since 2023 by Thomas Denmark & it dives into the deep end of the Pulp Strange Science. How?! Because the hills of Arizona in Gunslinger are rife with tons of OSR tunnels and high weirdness! From aliens to American Indian giants hunting PC's, villages, towns, and more. 

So basically this is a Weird Western rpg with OSR leaning that goes heavy into the Old Western vibe. The character classes lean heavily into Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert E. Howard, and other Pulp writers  Old Western tales. And the PC's character classes reflect this: 

• Brave
• Doctor
• Engineer
• Gunslinger
• Huckster
• Muckraker
• Arizona Ranger
• Scout
• Cavalryman
• Greenhorn (0 Level)

These classes are perfectly suited to use with a 'weird west' style OSR adventure campaign. These are a solid juxtaposition to the Warriors of the Red Planet rpg   because mixing the two games gives a solid OSR campaign. This means that the action is located right in the Old West campaign setting. 
These adventure elements are straight outta of the ordinary and allow the DM to take an Old West campaign and inject the old school weirdness factor right in. The Gunslinger rpg have the monsters & horrors baked right in. 
So a DM can easily do  a 'The Valley of Gwangi' style OSR campaign where an isolated 'Lost World' adventure is filled to the brim with lots of old school Gygaxian style horrors. And this is the perfect place to put a Barsoomian or ancient Martian style dimensional gate. And here's where your Gunslinger rpg PC's could end up on Warriors of the Red Planet rpg Mars. 
So this expands the Night Owl Workshop style campaign range with even more adventure  possibilities. There are a ton of options that a DM can bring his or her players with this combination of games. 

Review & Commentary On The Hostile Situation Report #017 For The Hostile rpg

" HOSTILE Situation Reports - Free one-page NPCs or adventure situations for the gritty HOSTILE setting."

CONAM 17

"A waystation, off the traffic routes, with unused areas powered down, shuttered and off-limits. A skeleton crew keeping things running, and a manager who is agitated and desperate to leave. And she has a job for you .."

  If your looking for a good beginning and mid level encounter/adventure to kick off your Hostile rpg campaign this is a good one! The Hostile Situation Report #017 for the Hostile Rpg  combines the mission & deadly encounter out in the blackness of space. This bases is off the usual trade routes and the manager has an agenda of their own and the PC's are at the center of this. 
Hostile Situation Report #017 has everything that a DM needs to bring a touchstone or as a jump point for a Hostile rpg campaign; "ConAm 17 is a corporate waystation, out on the Frontier. Once a thriving hub for corporate and industrial traffic, new colonies have since opened up alternate trade routes. ConAm 17 is now a shadow of what it once was." This allows the situation of open corporate corruption for PC's to get involved. Or at least that's what it looks like from the outside.  Maya Donaldson runs the station, but is a manager at wits end.  
And here's where the PC's get involved & this Hostile Situation Report goes deeply into a full on investigation mode. The PC's are going to become fully familiar with Com AM 17 station. This is an awesome encounter that runs deeply into the Hostile rpg turf. 

The Hostile Situation Report #017  for the Hostile Rpg takes full advantage of the Hostile rpg rules from the ground up especially the setting campaign material and the Hostile rules. There's room for Hostile rpg DM to inject their own scares and terror within this adventure encounters.  And this is a solid adventure encounter that delivers the full on goods if used correctly. 

OSR Review & Commentary On Forest Adventures -- A Shadowdark Supplement By James Mishler, & Jodi Moran-Mishler For The Shadowdark Rpg or Castles & Crusades rpg campaign

 "The materials presented in this booklet are optional, providing a new ancestry, new class, new spells, and new patrons for players and new monsters, treasures, and a complete mini-campaign setting for the game master to challenge player characters.

This supplement is designed to expand options for any campaign setting or sub-region of a campaign setting that is based in a forested area.

Designed for use with Shadowdark, easily adaptable to any other classic style OSR Role-Playing Game.

Forest Adventures includes:

New Oozeling Ancestry
New Hermit Class
20 new Woodland Spells
Four new Patrons for Warlocks and Witches

15 new forest-themed monsters:
Brudnakula
Doe Maiden
Flitterswarm
False Satyr
Korrigan
Lamia
Lamia Princess
Leucrotta
Nix
Nixie
Plonakupa
Satyr
Schaedelbaum
Woodwyrm
Ywazent"

"10 new forest-themed treasures:
Horn of the Woodland
Nixie Ring
Potion of Ooze
Potion of Power
Rune-Carved Menhir
Saint's Cloak
Seed of the Outer Sphere
Stormcrown
Staff of the Woodlands
Woodwyrm Necklace

A Gazetteer of the15 new forest-themed monsters:
Brudnakula
Doe Maiden
Flitterswarm
False Satyr
Korrigan
Lamia
Lamia Princess
Leucrotta
Nix
Nixie
Plonakupa
Satyr
Schaedelbaum
Woodwyrm
Ywazent"

A Gazetteer of the Witchyflow Vale for James Mishler's Hawkmoor Campaign Setting, including:
Extensive Encounter Tables, with region guidelines and history;
25 Hex-based Encounters
d100 Specific Witchyflow Vale Encounter Table
Witchyflow 2 mile-per-hex GMs Hex Map
Witchyflow 2 mile-per-hex VTT Players Hex Map

Forest Adventures -- A Shadowdark Supplement By James Mishler, & Jodi Moran-Mishler is the latest offering for the Shadowdark Rpg. Now anytime I get a Shadowdark supplement from it's a red letter day. Because these supplements can easily be translated over to Troll Lord Games Castles & Crusades. Now woodland themed supplements are not as common as one thinks.
This one Forest Adventures offers a slightly off center OSR theme of forrested areas to populate with new PC options, spells, & new woodland patrons for Warlocks and such. And there's the Oozeling ancestry options that work on two levels as an NPC optional background or for PC's to add another dimension for play. 

The woodland patrons could easily be used for druids or the other spell casters in Castles and Crusades. The newest monsters within Forrest Adventures are woodland and Forrest 15 new forest-themed monsters:
Brudnakula
Doe Maiden
Flitterswarm
False Satyr
Korrigan
Lamia
Lamia Princess
Leucrotta
Nix
Nixie
Plonakupa
Satyr
Schaedelbaum
Woodwyrm
Ywazent"

These monsters are all designed around the woodlands and they work on several levels. Level one these creatures are perfectly balanced to add new OSR weirdness to your OSR adventures. There are already overlap for many of these OSR monsters within Castles & Crusades but it's easy enough to have variety or subspecies of creatures. 
The Hermit class could easily be a guide or NPC class that takes care of the adventurers from a distance guiding them through the wilderness that is inspired by old school adventures. 
Note that the spells also reflect this theme of the wilderness as antagonist towards the player's PC's as well. Something we also see in the treasures that echo nature and the wild aspect of the woodlands. The woods are dark and deep, this brings us to the Gazetteer of the Witchyflow Vale for James Mishler's Hawkmoor Campaign Setting,
The Witchyflow is an extensive wilderness adventure for the PC's to adventure in. You get encounter tables, ruins and more that can easily be added into your own old school or OSR campaigns. 
Is Forest Adventures any good?! In a word, yes it's very good at what it does and that's add more OSR goodness to your own games if they happened to be centered on the wilderness or not. The material covered here is optional but adds a complexity to your own campaign.