Angels Above & Demons Below - Hostile/Kosmos 68 Game Session Report Two

 This blog post is going to pick right up from this session on May 14th here on the blog.  Having gotten the Soviet's robot memory banks picked clean the PC's find out that the PC's may have been exposed to a necrovirus! 

The PC's had to deal with a street contact between them and the underworld corporates that represented the syndicates on Abysss. So the Soviets in last night's games left behind a surprise in the form of a necrovirus aboard the wreckage that the PC's explored which meant dumping a ton of gear for decom & disposial. And the PC's have been dealing with a rather shady character named  Baosheng, a veteran Snakehead operating in the Off-World colony of Abyss. Dealing with the PC's hackers the design of the necrovirus is actually a  Chinese corporate creation left behind to discredit the Soviets on the colony world. It also hints at a possible all out war! During last week's game the players felt as if they were going up against  the Soviet SSB. And they actually were! Thier street samurai hired bodyguards reported to them that they were being cased out! At stake on Abyss is the fact that the Russians months ago have entered the fray on the side of the Chinese corporations as mercenaries.
High above Abyss sits the Orca a corporate Rokke Class Research Vessel that belongs to the head of the Science division of the Matsuyama corporation. No one is sure why he's there and his vessel is several technological levels above other Hostile starships. The vessel & her crew are all hand made and hand picked.  
Suddenly the PC's and the Soviets were surround by the corporate forces of the Matsuyama corporation! Both camps were escorted aboard a shuttle and whisked up into the bowels of the the Orca a corporate Rokke Class Research Vessel. Cloths were stripped and burnt, weapons were decomtaminated, and the PC's were checked over. 15 hours later the PC's were given the all clear!! 
 

The Chinese corporate forces had set up both the Soviets & the PC's. The PC's noticed that the shuttle they had ridden in was being hosed down as well. They were taken too the head of the the Science division of the Matsuyama corporation. And the Soviet psychics were allowed into the conference. Both sides were given information packs in order to avoid a interstellar corporate incident. They were told that the Colony worlds were burning and  the Matsuyama corporation wants to buy thier contracts in order to head off a mini interstellar war on Abyss. There's far more going on here then meets the eye.  

Angels Above & Demons Below - Hostile/Kosmos 68 Game Session Report

 Tonight our group got together for a round of our Hostile/Kosmos 68 game campaign where we found our party on Abyss doing a bit of black OP's against the Soviets. 

High above Abyss sits the Orca a corporate Rokke Class Research Vessel that belongs to the head of the Science division of the Matsuyama corporation. No one is sure why he's there and his vessel is several technological levels above other Hostile starships. The vessel & her crew are all hand made and hand picked. 

At stake on Abyss is the fact that the Russians months ago have entered the fray on the side of the Chinese corporations as mercenaries. No one is sure why the Russians are there except to shore up support for the Chinese criminal sydicates and act as ore pirates. 
So our little party's mission is to figure out how deep the Soviet influence runs. We're serving aboard two submarines while running interference on largest island city. Our runners are plugged into the local grid while we've hired local street samurai to act as bodyguards. 
The players in tonight's game felt as if they were facing down the Soviet SSB & think that there might be far more going on below the waters of Abyss. During tonight's game the party almost bought it when some of the local wildlife decided to give them a bit of a scare and turn. 

What the player's PC's found tonight didn't help thier love of the Soviets in our Abyss campaign. The PC's were able to find a bouy that the Soviets had left behind in Chinese controlled terrority. They dived on the spot with thier submarines and found a Soviet wreck on the bottom. What they came across is a wreckage of submarine sitting on a deep underwater reef. And in tonight's game they recovered the remains of a Soviet robotic unit. The party's technician was able to do a brain & memory bank recovery. And now the party is on it's way back to port to bring the memory bank into a cybernetic expert in the capital city. Meanwhile  corporate eyes are watching from above! 

OSR Review & Commentary On The Hostile Rpg rules pdf By Paul Elliot From Zozer Games For The Hostile rpg & setting or Cepheus Engine rpg or Your Old School 2d6 Science Fiction Rpg's

"Welcome to the gritty, retro-future universe of HOSTILE which now expands with its own, dedicated rulebook. Based on the Cepheus Engine, these Rules add in the realistic combat rules from Zozer Games’ popular Modern War game, as well as setting-specific rules from some of the eighteen HOSTILE supplements. When combined with its companion book, the HOSTILE Setting, you will have a complete, stand-alone, retro-future sci-fi game. Please look out for the HOSTILE Double Shift Bundle which gives you these HOSTILE Rules as well as the HOSTILE Setting book, at a 20% discount off of the listed price.

HOSTILE  is a gritty, near future roleplaying setting that is inspired by movies like Outland, Bladerunner and Alien. It is a universe of mining installations, harsh moons, industrial facilities, hostile planets and brutal, utilitarian spacecraft."

Welcome back and tonight we've got some Cepheus Engine goodness with the revamp of the Hostile Rpg rules pdf. And its awesome! Paul Elliot goes back into the Hostile rules & peels back the layers of the Hostile rpg engine. This 2d6 set of rules compliments the retro future horror of the HOSTILE Setting. Paul Elliot takes full advantage of the Cepheus Engine rpg rules set to gear the Eighties science fiction horror rules to actually be playable. The Hostile Rpg rules compliments the HOSTILE Setting with bells on and Ian Stead's artwork really sets off the intergalactic campaign setting. The Hostile Rpg rules  takes full advantge of the 239 pages of gaming goodness. 
The Hostile Rpg rules  tweaks the career paths, details, and rules to create a coheriant whole system that is excellently playable. The devil is within the details of the world of Hosile & the rules reflect this in spades. The 2d6 rpg rules take the Hostile material and boils it within the juicies of the game to reflect the details put forth in the Hostile setting book. What the rules do is to take the Hostile game into the murky terrority of its own take on the Cepheus Engine rules. It does this by leading the players into the path of their PC's. And the rules have that late Seventies & early Eighties Science Fiction movie asthetic. This is a brutal, lived in, and downright dangerous universe and the rules reflect this. Your party are not heroes or adventurers but spacers doing the jobs that few are going to want to do. Needless to say that the  Hostile Rpg rules reflect this and yes you can die rather badly in PC generation. 
But that's to be expected, having played Hostile for many months now & gone through quite a few characters myself. Hostile is a dangerous game where space can & will kill you if it can. You can get an injury quite nicely and there is sometimes no coming back from that. 
The  Hostile Rpg rules reflect the retro future technologies, devices, weapons, etc. & this set's up the infrastructure of the game. And the rules  does it very well. The system is refined standard 2d6 Hostile but its edited very tightly. The survival rules are done nicely,doing the job of planetary exploration, mining, taking on space walks, the whole package of the Hostile rules are so well done. 

What makes the Hostile Rpg rules pdf so good is the internal consistency of the Hostile rules. The 2d6 done by Zozer Games is done excellently & Paul Elliot has an easy writing style that makes this an easy rule book to get through. If it was me then I would rush to grab a physical copy of  the Hostile Rpg rules pdf today! 

You can find the Hostile Rules PDF Right Here 

Aliens Eternal Soldiers Hive War 2384 Part III Mutant Future Actual Play

After the events of Part II available right over HERE

Last night's game was very interesting with the PC's regrouping at the African Federal Security Agency mercenaries fortress helped to re equip them as well as get their own people back to their ship in deep Earth orbit. 

Things are pretty damn dire in Africa with the country divided along complex tribal and mutational lines as well as the invasive species influence of the cult of  the 'New Dawn'  'Bugmen' and humans lead by Avalon a charismatic Xenomorph, Human Xeno  that had been using the fusion reactors below Republica for years.
The FSA forces have had a running battle with this cult of fanatics for years and the leader of the cult Avalon has an Alien Queen as part of the cult's head. The hive has plans for a massive expansion and is at war with another hive about 50 klicks away.
This spells disaster for the mutants, humans, and tribes that are trying to scratch out a living in the wastes. 

Not to mention the extinction of the FSA forces in the area.
 

The Marine's mutant psychic received a massive assault from one of the Mutant Bugmen but was able to make some great saves for the the PC. A war began on the psychic plane though and marines became worried as the toil of the battle began to wane on their comrade. Finally the pitched battle went in favor of Marie Le Croy the Colonial marine psychic and scout. Before exploding the Bug Man's mind she was able to telepathically extract the current location of the cult and their base's layout.
More coming up! 

Aliens Eternal Soldiers Hive War 2384 Part II Mutant Future Actual Play

Last night's Mutant Future/ Alien mash up found the PC's in the wastelands of a mutated Africa, searching for survivors, equipment, and a power source that had appeared on sensors.
This part of Africa had been abandoned by Corporate forces after the events of  Alien Resurrection.
You can read the set up right over HERE


The capital city of  what was once Republica, a Con -Am mining city was nothing more then rumble, the space port was a complete wreck, the underground facilities were intact. They have yet to investigate those.



The PC's found the remains of a Con -Am mining cargo ship that wasn't what it seemed.
They were very careful and scanned the ship. The found traces of biological stasis pods, a full A.I. core capable of maintaining the cargo, and two ecology/biology  bots built into the ship itself to maintain the whole set up. They found some pretty heavy duty weapons and ammo aboard as well thinking that it was all clear. It wasn't! Some Xenomorph Lurkers (more information right HERE ) were hidden within the paneling and things went from bad to worse. One of the PC's was sprayed with acidic blood and had to stabilized by one of the other Outer Rim mutate marines.
The party's mutant psychic screamed 'incoming! ' after a particularly good solid roll! The team began to fight their way back to the drop ship point and use the explosives they recovered from the mining ship!
Info right over HERE

They found where the xenomorphs were coming from as Xenomorph, Boiler
 and Xenomorph, Spitter
spilled themselves over the sides of the ruin's walls and really began ruining the PC's days

The PC's heard the welcome sound of a  set of  XM99A Phased Plasma Pulse Rifles and were rescued as African Federal Security Agency mercenaries in M3 Pattern Personal Armor came to their add.

 
Seems that the corporation that owned Republica had abandoned the Marshals as well and they had a bit of Colonial Marine gear stashed from the last Alien Hive War.


It was time to leave however when a swarm of  Xenomorph, Crushers lead by a 

Xenomorph, Raven

One of the PC's took the brunt of an acid spray from one of the Crushers and we mourned the loss of Lt.Henderson of Rigel Four. His Sawed-off Double Barrel Shotgun has a place of honor after his recovery of a P9 S.H.A.R.P. Rifle helped even the odds during this encounter. He always like to keep his shotgun for close encounters. 

The FSA personal got the wounded marines aboard their Land Master as the marines vehicle met with the drop ship and they rolled out of there under a hail of missiles and gun fire from the cannons of the master.

After the marines sorted their own wounded and two PC's are now up for cybernetic conversion therpy under the watchful gaze of their android medic and the Colonial Marine's Medi robot.

The PC's learned about the 'New Dawn' cult of 'Bugmen' and humans lead by Avalon a charismatic Xenomorph, Human Xeno  that had been using the fusion reactors below Republica to power the head exchangers and create the optimum conditions for her hive brothers and sisters. The hive is one of the largest underground hives within this section of Africa. The FSA had been able to keep her and her forces  in check  for years.
Note that 'Bug men' cultists gain the following mutations - Bizarre appearance, meta mind, minor telepathic abilities, and they are able to hear the telepathic siren call of the Alien Queens over interstellar distances. They advance as fighters and are mutated as a result of their extended dependency upon the 'xeno zip' drug  or exposure to the Alien Queen royal jelly which causes these mutations within certain individuals with the required genetic profiles.There is a 30% chance for those exposed to the Xenomorph derivative products of developing the bug men mutations. Bug men are extremely fanatical in their devotion to certain hives and Xenomorph queens who view them as they would any other sentient. Merely fodder for the Face huggers.



There were a ton of questions for the FSA at their fortress but those will have to wait till next week's game.