Occult Secrets Of The Trinity of Awesome Kickstarter With Kort'thalis Publishing

The Trinity of Awesome is winding down in about seven days but it still needs your help to get to the promised stretch goals but I wanted to take a look into the deeper Lovecraftian horrors of  The Green Jewel They Must Possess adventure for a moment a part of The Outer Presence rpg line.



GO HERE TO SUPPORT THE KICKSTARTER

When it comes to low prep, high octane Seventies old school adventure one of my favorites is the Outer Presence by Venger Satanis. Now with the release of the Trinity of Awesome kickstarter we've got another Lovecraftian piece of that puzzle that is the Outer Presence universe in the form of A Green Jewel They Must Possess adventure. The basic plot outline sounds like something from an Eighties animated film but there are some very subtle differences;"This is a 4 - 5 page adventure of investigative horror set in "modern day," specifically the 1970's.  A glowing green sphere with spiritual powers has been discovered in Peru, but it's cursed because people keep dying.  Obviously, it's worth a fortune."
Right off the bat we've got this glowing jewel showing up in the 1970's Peru a country with a history soaked in blood going all of the way back to the Incan empire through the rise of the Shining Path. There is a lot of real world & Lovecraftian history tied up in Peru.


Photo by Matěj Baťha

Weirdly enough this is the second Venger Satanis adventure set in South America, the first one The Outer Presence deals with some very 'Cannibal Holocaust' jungle elements & Lovecraftian adventure sequences mixed with a good dose of adventure. These adventures are also self contained mini rpg systems that hook in with the principal game mechanic which is a d6 dice pool.  It's a simplified, closer-to-the-real-world version of Crimson Dragon Slayer and it makes modifying it into your favorite old school investigative supernatural game a snap. The Outer Presence takes place in & around Papua New Guinea with a health dose of action & some very dark supernatural horror taking place within its pages.


There is a definitively Lovecraftian element to the back universe story in the Outer Presence;"
The adventure starts in and around Miskatonic University and quickly heads to Papua New Guinea... cause you know what they do there, right?  This isn't one of those dull scenarios where hardly anything happens.  In fact, The Outer Presence occasionally borders on "out there" without diving into full-on gonzo territory.  Eldritch pulp action-adventure probably sums it up best." There are several places where the adventure almost seems to strain against itself to tell you more about the Outer Presence universe. In fact just the other day on G+ Venger let slip a tid bit about that universe that implies that there are deeper secrets in the Outer Presence adventures then meets the eye;"There is a para-military organization safeguarding the world from supernatural disaster. Theta Chartreuse is a splinter group devoted to awakening the Great Old Ones. They are determined to usher in an apocalyptic new world order." So already we're getting into tin foil hat X files territory which reminds me of several late night Eighties horror films not to mention the Heavy Metal film from 1981. 

Could this be because someplace deep within the Outer Presence universe there are those in the 'know' who are being deeply influenced & whose sanity is strained by the very Lovecraftian gods, horrific elements, and other weirdness just lurking on this side of the adventure. Could this have something to do with the Lovecraftian horrors lurk just on the other side of both Crimson Dragon Slayer and Alpha Blue? I think so my friends because there are wheels within wheels in the Outer Presence & Venger Satanis's creations. We've seen this in Alpha Blue & The Island of Purple Haunted Putrescence's connections through NPC's, random encounters, and other game elements. The same could be said for the Outer Presence. This sort of a pulpy weird vibe runs through the Outer Presence right from the very beginning.
 Basically its really essentially a boiled down pulp adventure done in a more contemporary style with Venger's flare for the gonzo with a heap of Lost, Cannibal Holocaust, and a piping hot side of HP Lovecraft. .There's precious little preventing the Game Master from swapping New Guinea out for the jungles of South America or similar locale. This scenario could take place during any period of the 20th century. If the 70's don't resonate with you, feel free to change it. Some conversion will be necessary, but the majority should play just fine as it is."

There are elements of Robert Howard's Cthulhu Mythos and other far more contemporary echoes in The Outer Presence. With a heap of Jim Jones style madness that anyone who grew up in this time will recognize. For example is  Doctor Karl Steiner, anthropologist, ego-maniac, and frequent contributor to the quarterly anthropology journal Culturally Speaking. With the help of Dr. Steiner and his team, the Meepie tribe has regressed to cannibalism and human sacrifice in order to appease something that lives in the nearby temple…the outer  presence."

And now the circle of Green Jeweled Lovecraftian madness has moved into 1970's modern  America, no one or nothing is going to be safe from the horrors that shall come from outside our reality. The secret cabal behind the jewel and its machinations are going to the fodder for the continuing weirdness. Be sure to support the Trinity of Awesome on Kickstarter to get more 1970's investigative horror.

The Free Old School Rpg Horror Resource Protodimension Magazine Issue #26 March 2016 For Your Old School Horror Campaigns

GRAB IT HERE

Well, it finally hit the streets yesterday, Protodimension magazine Issue #26 March 2016 

has hit the ground running. There is some solid material in this newest issue of the venerable horror magazine. You get a really solid cross section of old school material for Dark Conspiracy starting off  with the NPC Mr. Fitch by  CW Kelson III (Tad) for Dark Conspiracy and a brand new monster Loup-Garou (Demon Wolf) by Tim Bisaillon for Dark Conspiracy. This monster works on a number of levels for the game. There are two pieces of fiction with old school horror adventure potential for Call of Cthulhu; "Sleeping With Beauty, Fiction by me and  "I Love You I Love You," said the Little Blue Man, Blue fiction by Shae Davidson for Bucky both of which have lots of  hooks for plenty of table top game mileage.

What's on the Shelf, Ammunition packaging by Jason D. McEwen for Dark Conspiracy has some great material that can be inserted into your old school game campaigns. I really like The Order of the Veiled Eyes, A great  hunter cell by Scott McClenaghan for Dark Conspiracy that could be dropped into the back end of a campaign for some extra punch. And finally Profile : Riley Groff, Neuropath, An NPC/Contact by Richard Hayden for Dark Conspiracy which rounds out the entire issue. The artwork is very well done. The lay out is better then half of the professional stuff I've seen lately.
I'm totally blown away as per usual with this stuff. So go download it & you won't be sorry. Tell em Needles send ya!

Commentary On The Free Old School Horror Fanzine The Release of Protodimension Issue #25 February For 2016 & Your Old School Horror Campaigns

GRAB ISSUE 25  RIGHT HERE

So the guys over at Protodimensions have cut down the page count and upped the nastiness factor in this issue. There's lots happening here and the page count has been cut down but we've got a leaner and much meaner beast of an old school rpg horror anthology fanzine. The latest cuts go something like this:

1. Mercurial, A metallic proto-dimension by Ron McClung for Dark Conspiracy
2. Wight Wedding, Something Old, Something Horrid by Shae Davidson for Cthulhu Dark
3. A Conspiracy Amongst the Stars, A Dark Conspiracy inspired campaign by Linden Dunham for the 3:16 RPG
4. Sights Seldom Seen, An Urban Explorer Career by Jason D McEwen for Conspiracy Rules/Dark Conspiracy III
5. El Niebla Roja, A Bar Brawl by Phil Ward for Dark Conspiracy
6. The Graesha, A Critter by Mitchell Schwartz for Dark Conspiracy
   
   Basically this issue packs a lot of useful & dangerous material for the old school horror DM to sink their teeth into. A bit of everything that we need to really get the blood flowing from your victim ermm player's PC's. And if you like what you see contact the guys over at Protodimension for article or adventure that you'd love to see in print for Call of Cthulhu, Dark Conspiracy or one of the other myriad of titles that the fanzine supports.

Review & Commentary The 'Pay What You'd Like' OSR Pulp Adventure - The Paranoia Pit From Griffon Publishing Studio For Your Old School Campaigns

I love Twenties thru Fifties perhaps into Sixties  pulp role playing and its my second love right after DYI D&D. For this set up I highly suggest that you visit David Bay Miller's OSR Library. There your going to find a ton of OD&D/Swords and Wizardry modern resources including Firearms rules, equipment, PC classes,etc. all that can easily fit this module/adventure for free.

Right now on to the Paranoia Pit! This is a ten page free or pay what you'd like adventure set during the heyday of the forth age of exploration during the 1930's or so.
The set up is classic monster movie or Saturday matinee serial fare, 'The heroes fly to a remote island (close
to the Japanese Mandate) noted in pencil on the chart. An executive of the Standard Oil
Company provided the coordinates when he contracted the heroes to run cargo to a fiveman
 survey there; the information is considered proprietary and therefore not on any established maps.'
Yes, I already know that this an attempt to sell the author's rpg the Heroes of Rura - Tonga. I say more power to him. He's offering a free pdf adventure and there are number of titles also available for pay what you like purchase. This is part of an island hopping campaign style of adventure role playing. Now where have I seen that idea before?Oh yeah!

So you've got the perfect set up for any number of OSR game adventures. Now I've heard some folks using this adventure for a Call of Cthulhu style game adventure and other friends of mine have run this with Lamentations of the Flame Princess using David Bay Miller's OSR add ons.
The module puts your PC's right into the heart of a weird pulpy supernatural happening and adventure style that emulates a few early pulp era conventions. This isn't a bad thing at all. And we get a bit of a preview of Rura-Tonga and its environs.
So there's also a preview of the 'Any System Key' in there as well, this is rules lite conversion tool for your post and premodern games. Not too bad if this is the rules set that your aiming for.
So what can be done with "The Paranoia Pit"? Well what can't really? This adventure could with a bit of work be used as a jump off point for a series of dungeon explorations as you as the dungeon master place a small dungeon or ruin of a forgotten Pacific people some place on the island and its environs. Its really not a badly done little package for setting up for an investigative style series of occult  adventures in the tradition of Indiana Jones . I really don't want to give away too much of the plot of this short set up and dive into adventure. As a pulpy modern Lovecraftian adventure  The Paranoia Pit has the potential to act as a spring board into a full blown modern occult campaign. There are a number of retroclones rpg systems that could work for taking this adventure to the next level. We'll get into some of those coming up in another blog entry soon. I'd give the Paranoia Pit an even four out of five stars as a free jump off point for adventuring into the pulp era and lifting the veil from your player's eyes!
 

Review & Commentary On The New Investigative Style Adventure From From Venger Satanis - The Outer Presence

Want to get your players hip deep in weird Lovecraftian hijinks without the huge prep time that seems to come with contemporary adventures that sap your sanity as a DM? Need a game adventure that is self contained and easy to run at the drop of a hat with ten minutes of prep time? Well  Kort'thalis Publishing  is here to help with the Outer Presence. An adventure and modern horror d6 PC system all in one self contained horror package ready to go straight out of the gate.  I followed the Kickstarter action on the Outer Presence adventure and I'm very happy with the result.

Grab It Right Over HERE

I received my pdf copy of The Outer Presence a few days ago and its really essentially a boiled down pulp adventure done in a more contemporary style with Venger's flare for the gonzo with heap of Lost, Cannibal Holocaust, and a piping hot side of HP Lovecraft. But it doesn't venture into the territory of Crimson Dragon Slayer. Seriously though this is a very well done adventure which clocks in at about forty five pages of out and out weirdness. This adventure is new school & old school at the same time, this adventure uses the  principal game mechanic of  d6 dice pools. This seems to be the in house  Kort'thalis Publishing system which is easily convertible into your favorite OSR or modern system. You get a full range of options straight out of the gate in this module but from a 1970's grind house horror movie perspective. Described as

This is both a self-contained, investigative horror RPG and "weird tales" scenario set in 1970's New Guinea. I get the sneaking suspicion that Venger watched tons and tons of VHS 1970's and 80's horror films and The Outer Presence is the result. But is it playable? Yes if your into the dangerous and sanity action fest that's laid at your feet as the DM of this easily convertible adventure. You could use this with any D6 or Call of Cthlhu style adventure. The trick here is that this adventure actually delivers what it promises straight up. Monsters, mayhem, and nastiness right out of the gate with everything laid out at the DM's feet. I actually like this adventure. And it delivers exactly what it promises. Everything from careers for the PC's to weirdness rules are laid out in spades. Even from the introduction to the Outer Presence everything is laid bare with as much minimalist outfiting as possible;
 "This story is meant to take place in the 1970's, but can easily be modified by the Game Master. I was influenced by such great films as Cannibal Holocaust, Cannibal  Ferox, and Jungle Holocaust, as well as, the 1960's Jonny  Quest television show.There's precious little preventing the Game Master from swapping New Guinea out for the jungles of South America or similar locale. This scenario could take placeat any period of the 20th century. If the 70's don't resonate with you, feel free to change it. Some conversion will be necessary, but the majority should play just fine as it is."

There are elements of Robert Howard's Cthulhu Mythos and other far more contemporary echoes in The Outer Presence. With a heap of Jim Jones style madness that anyone who grew up in this time will recognize. For example is  Doctor Karl Steiner, anthropologist, ego-maniac, and frequent contributor to the quarterly anthropology journal Culturally Speaking. With the help of Dr. Steiner and his team, the Meepie tribe has regressed to cannibalism and human sacrifice in order to appease something that lives in the nearby temple…the outer  presence.

On the surface this seems rather simplistic and rather straight up horror gaming but this is a pot boiler of an adventure with lots happening under the hood. I don't want to really get into the back end or front end of the Outer Presence because I don't want to spoil the adventure but this is one to get. The maps here are solid, the ideas straight up well presented and represented, the artwork isn't bad at all and is evocative of the grind house vibe that the Outer Presence is going for. All in all this is a really solidly presented at  adventure that is a must for any system neutral or old school contemporary or modern adventure game. Or simply use it on its own. Five  out of five for one of my favorite straight up adventures. Because I love the weird 70's cannibal exploitation  Lovecraft horror vibe that Venger is going for here!

The Stars Are Almost Gone For Kickstarter From Venger Satanis's - The Outer Presence Adventure

The hours are slowly ticking down for Venger Satanis's latest horror inspired Lovecraftian investigation module Kickstarter 'The Outer Presence', this is a short, sweet, nasty adventure of Lovcraftain horror and hi jinks and the Kickstarter is winding down as we speak! This one has a bit of everything in it, some investigation, a bit of horror, even more horror, and dangerous adventure around every corner but time is running out. 

                                                             Contribute right over HERE

 

This adventure has that over arching Seventies horror vibe going on, and the Seventies is a perfect vehicle for a horror investigation set in New Guinea. Think one part cannibal flick , two parts Mythos, and then throw in some death dismemberment and insanity.

The Seventies are the perfect time for the  Mythos economic unrest, world wide strife, gas strikes, the second wave of high end horror movies.  Yes this is the perfect time to set this adventure.  There was a play test right over HERE

Well that I can see this adventure proving to be another in a series of Satanis trips that my players have come not to like at all. The PC to torture ratio tends to run a wee bit just this side of Lamentations of the Flame Princess style play with Venger's modules and that in my opinion is a good thing. So get on board before the opportunity disappears like the KickStarter. 

Commentary on the new Call of Cthulhu Style Adventure Kickstarter From Venger Satanis - The Outer Presence

So there's a new Venger Satanis Kickstarter page up for a new adventure called the Outer Presence, the idea here is a slick investigative adventure in the style of Cannibal Holocaust with a twist of Cannibal  Lost, and  heap of H.P. Lovecraft on top. Now the bend in the road is that this is an investigative style adventure in the spirit of Call of Cthulhu, call me a glutton for punishment but I'm very curious to see how this is going to turn out.
Contribute right over HERE

Another very interesting aspect of this adventure is that its not set in the Twenties or Thirties but the Sevenities. That brings a whole other twisted aspect to the table. Think about it, the Sevenities is a perfect CoC time. Civil unrest, ecomomic angst, the energy crisis, the occult revival all perfectly framed with the Mythos.
Now there are some clues already as to how this adventure might go down. You've got an entire play test entry right over HERE
But the bit that really grabbed my attention is from the play test of  the adventure;
'Onto New Guinea!  Their host was a piece of work.  I really wanted to push the envelope with what players and PCs might expect from the scenario's principle antagonist.  He pushed a lot of buttons and made everyone hate him.  PCs didn't actually vomit... but they wanted to.  Incidentally, the actor Sidney Greenstreet was my inspiration for Doctor Karl Steiner.
Exploring the temple!  Over the last few years, I've been on the jungle cruise at Disney World's Magic Kingdom probably a dozen times.  The part when the boat goes into that dark structure was the basis for my temple.  Could have been more detailed, but I think it was successful on the whole.'

I'm not rushing out just yet but I'm sure this will have the Venger flare to it. Given the fact that I've got at least three or four Satanis books on my shelf and the amount of Call of Cthlhu books that I'm in love with this looks very interesting to me. So in my humble opinion, drop some coin and let's get this pdf out of the gate.

Free Horror Rpg Resource - Issue #22 Winter 2015 of Protodimension Magazine For Your New And Old School Campaigns

The new issue of Protodimension magazine is out and its a hell of an issue featuring some fantastic material from some of the top drawer rpg authors and designers. A Dream for All Ages, A scenario for the Ghost of a Chance setting by Lester Smith and Nick Davis for D6XD6 RPG is especially well done. I've got one or two pieces in this issue. The other piece is the one I did with Clint Staples which I'm super excited to be a part of.

Download This Issue Right Over
HERE

This is a packed to the gills issue of the venerable  free horror  magazine.
So what's in this issue? A whole bunch of great old and new school material perfect for popping into your games. Th

• In The Blackest Darkness, An Encounter Table by Eric Fabiaschi for Conspiracy Rules!
• Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman, A book review by Mitchell Schwartz a book to use as inspiration
• Harvester of Eyes: Silver Screen, Scarlet Slasher, A short investigation by Phil Ward for Dark Conspiracy (3rd edition)
• Under My Bed, Poetry by Peyton Bisaillon
• A Dream for All Ages, A scenario for the Ghost of a Chance setting by Lester Smith and Nick Davis for D6XD6 RPG
• Don't Tell My Mother I'm a Deep Sea Diver, (She Thinks I'm a Piano Player in a Whorehouse) by Craig Stanton for your horror
• Close Quarters Firepower, Nothing like a shotgun by Lee Williams for Conspiracy Rules!
• Courier, Familial fiction by Shae Davidson for mood setting or something else
• The Woods Around The Cabin, An adventure script by Tim Bisaillon for Horror Rules
• Beyond The Silver Threshold, A supernatural horror adventure encounter by Clint Staples and Eric Fabiaschi for Call Of Cthulhu
• Explosives for Dark Conspiracy, Having a blast by Jason D. McEwan for Dark Conspiracy
• Getting by Day to Day, More odds and ends by Jason D. McEwan for Conspiracy Rules!
• De Oppresso Liber, Team building special forces by Jason D. McEwan for Conspiracy Rules!
• Roll Out!, Heavy duty law enforcement careers by Jason D. McEwan for Conspiracy Rules!
• Turning Up the Heat, Field expedient munitions by Jason D. McEwan for Dark Conspiracy
• Jida, the Realm of the Gumiho, A proto-dimension add-on by Jason D. McEwan for Dark Conspiracy
• TP-82 Survival Weapon System, Self-protection in a dark, dark, place by Lee Williams for Dark Conspiracy
• The Shattered Hole, An adventure encounter by Eric Fabiaschi for Call of Cthlhu Any Era
• New Proto-Dimension: Lae, A tempting proto-dimension by Scott McClenaghan for Dark Conspiracy
  
  There are some absolutely wonderful stuff, way too much stuff to cover in one blog post and some fantastic stuff for your horror games. My advice is to grab a copy and get playing! 

"La Baionnette #32" & Old School Warped WWI For Your Old School Campaigns

There are times in history when the echoes of history trail through time. The trenches, battle fields, and nightmares of WWI were rife with the horrors of war depravity in spades. This was a war the likes of which the world as a whole had never seen.
Skirmisher publishing has released "La Baionnette #32," and its like a window into the French collective mind during WWI.

I've gamed in this war a couple of times and its never a pleasant war ever but then no war is. 

To understand why this issue is important you have to understand who Louis Raemaekers is and why the world is different because of him and his artwork. 

But first what is "La Baionnette"?

According to wiki: 

The bayonet is a French satirical weekly which appeared in 1915-1920

Its headquarters was 30, rue de Provence in Paris.

It was originally created as the bayonet At the January 23, 1915 by cartoonist Henriot says Henriot , a contributor toThe Illustration and father of Émile Henriot . It changed its name in July 1915. At first, Henriot provides most of the drawings.

It takes its name from the bayonet and the term "charge with the bayonet," the charge was also her favorite activity by making fun of the "stupidity" of the Germans and ridicule by his caricatures the Kaiser Wilhelm II or Crown PrinceWilliam of Prussia and thus supporting the morale of the French during the First World War . Main illustrators: Iribe, Fabiano, Gus Bofa, Leander, Willette, Poulbot, Métivet, Wegener, Cappiello, Capy and many others.

Wars such as WWI take center stage as the set pieces and background as historic settings for your adventurers whose presence and actions might in some small way alter the flow and ebb of time. But in all of the 'one shots of history' and alternative historical adventures I've run its always the small victories and little events that make the difference to players. World shaping events such as WWI offer some pretty impressive pieces of history to draw PC's into pivot moments of history.
Collections like this offer a snap shot of time and historic events enabling the reality of war to be used as the backdrop for horror, adventure, and weird fiction because the fog of war shakes the monsters from out of the pages of history like no other. This is where these collections come into perfect focus for a DM running anything like an old school time travel adventure or something like Call of Cthlhu where the horrors of the Mythos are perfectly time and fitted into the battles and struggles that the war will obliterate with a hand gesture of war itself. 

Grab It Right
HERE

This issue features the artistry of Louis Raemaekers who is not well known today among Americans, created some of the most vivid and horrifying artwork as well as illustrations of WWI. 
His country of Belguim was right in the center of WWI German occupation.
Again Wiki: 

Immediately after the Germans invaded Belgium, Louis Raemaekers became one of their fiercest critics. His message was clear: the Netherlands had to take sides for the Allies and abandon its neutral stance. His graphic cartoons depicted the rule of the German military in Belgium, portrayed the Germans as barbarians and Kaiser Wilhelm II as an ally of Satan. His work was confiscated on several occasions by the Dutch government and he was criticized by many for endangering the Dutch neutrality. The minister of Foreign Affairs John Loudon invited Raemaekers, the owner of De Telegraaf H.M.C. Holdert and the editor-in-chief Kick Schröder under pressure from the German government to a meeting, at which he requested them to avoid ‘anything that tends towards insulting the German Kaiser and the German army’.^[3] It was not possible to prosecute Raemaekers for as long as the country was not under martial law. But the pressure on him continued, also from Germany: in September 1915 the rumor even started circulating that the German government had offered a reward of 12,000 guilders for Raemaekers, dead or alive, but proof of an official statement has never been found.^[4]

Louis Raemaekers achieved his greatest successes outside his native country. He left for London in November 1915, where his work was exhibited in the Fine Art Society on Bond Street. It was received with much acclaim. Raemaekers became an instant celebrity and his drawings were the talk of the town: ‘they formed the subject of pulpit addresses, and during two months, the galleries where they have been exhibited have been thronged to excess. Practically every cartoon has been purchased at considerable prices.’^[5] He decided to settle in England and his family followed in early 1916. His leaving the Netherlands for London was a godsend for all concerned. Henceforth, the Dutch government could distance itself from the cartoonist and his work in its diplomatic relations, thus stabilising its position vis-à-vis Germany, while Raemaekers himself could cease his hopeless campaign to get the Netherlands to abandon its neutral stance. He may also have realised for himself that his aim of persuading his country to take up arms and thus avoid the fate of Belgium was not very realistic.^[6] From early 1915 Raemaekers' cartoons had already appeared in British newspapers and magazines. In early 1916 he signed a contract with the Daily Mail and they appeared in this newspaper on a regular basis for the next two years.
Read more about this hero of WWI & WWII right over HERE

Using Warped WWI As Adventure Setting Backdrop 

There are three old school gaming systems and their relatives  that I've used WWI as the backdrop for.They include  OD&D and its retroclone systems, Call of Cthulhu and Stormbringer, and White Wolf's Wraith the Great War. The trick with using any gaming material is to pick the historic events and dates that you wish to insert your PC's into. Or to use an alternative historical approach to the material. Most of the time to avoid certain sensitive pieces of history, I've gone in the direction of alternative history. By doing this it enables the DM room to create his own path of 'what if' and this is where resources like "La Baionnette #32" are very important. 

These resources enable you to create the divergent points or fork's in the road of time without cheapening the historical events themselves or the bloodshed and horrors that went along with them. 

Now I've said it before and I'll say it again, I'm obsessed with WW I , I've been to Europe and France seen the battle fields, walked through the museums, watched countless historical documentaries & specials, and ran a Wraith The Great War campaign from White Wolf. This is very grim stuff and its not easy to deal with at all. In no way shape or form I'm I or this collection trying to cheapen the memory of the blood shed, suffering,and agony of WWI. In point of fact its only through understanding the history of the events of the war that we really get a clear picture of how close to the edge the world came from WWI and how the events of the first war led to the center stage of the second.
Do I think that this collection is well worth your money and time? Yes its a true snap shot into a very blood thirsty time, the inclusion of  Louis Raemaekers's artwork is a grim reminder of the horrors of our world's past. 

A nice little resource also from Skirmisher's William Thresher is his Great Old Ones and the Great War: Mythos Adventure Hooks from his blog post right over 

HERE 

While specifically made for the Call of Cthulhu game, these adventure hooks could easily be applied to a wide variety of old school horror games quite easily. 

Bottom line if your setting a game near any of the French territories and countryside during WWI. Then grab this issue. 

An Abridged Volume - A Call of Cthlhu or Old School Horror Adventure Encounter For Your Old School Campaigns

Recently a selection of volumes of  Magia Naturalis (in English, Natural Magic) twenty volumes came up for auction in an estate sale. These parituclar volumes were vary dangerous due to the annotations and notes written within them by a monster hunter and sorcerer. Sir Charles Baptist was an  amateur hunter and adventurer of renowned who had acquired these volumes from his old family mansion in the upper part of New York state. These volumes dated back before the forming of America itself, and the family's interactions with legendary creatures including the Mythos but these volumes also contained wards, counter spells and weird incantations dating back centuries. Some of them quite dangerous to the soul &  sanity of their caster.
More about Magia Naturalis can be found right over HERE

Henry Wallis was an naturalist and occultist of some repute who lusted after these volumes for years and had a friendship with Sir Charles who contracted a deadly jungle disease after a particularly harrowing experience in the bush of Africa.

Wallis managed to secure the volumes of 'white magic' and pre-Baconian science, one paritcular aspect of these volumes was the the tales of Wha Baccuum, a dark and dangerous primordial world in another dimension. This world of incredible beauty was only surpassed by the viciousness of its prehistoric inhabitants. Wallis managed to open a dimensional rift to this world and for his troubles the experience killed him. The rite was cast at a near by lake and a Chaousarou of dangerous aspect was summoned. The creature not unlike others of its kind quickly adapted to its environment and has begun to feed on locals and some live stock. It is quite clever in its feeding patterns and bares an almost uncanny malicious intelligence. 

The PC's are called in as 'experts' by the local police knowing that they are in far over their depth. The characters are well known as 'experts' in matters of the occult and such. Wallis's corpse has been found near the lake shore still dressed in his robes and surrounded by accutraments and instruments of the occult. A single volume of  Magia Naturalis lays near by covered in close cropped cryptic writings that the Baptist family used. There is a very uneasy feeling surrounding the area as if something dark and dangerous is watching. 

Photo by (WT-en) TVerBeek 

The police have Wallis's apartment coordinated off and the PC's can get first crack in. The apartment is a fairly standard 1920's flat and for a raging occultist's residence is fairly well kept accept for the kitchen table which is covered in volumes of  notes practically thousands of close worked handwriting similar to the type found within Magia Naturalis. The books themselves are scattered about as well, stuffed with hundreds of notes & scribblings. There is also a diary by Wallis written in archaic Dutch that has the cipher key written within it including his mad plans. 

Reading all of the ravings of this mad mind will cost 1d10 points of sanity as Wallis's mind breaks under the strain of  the occult concepts of  dimensional walls and insane passages to primival worlds. Places where the Elder Things still might hold complete sway over the passage of life and death. 

Wha Baccuum is such a world and a source of incredible magickal  power. Wallis thought that using the dark powers in charge of this world would make him like unto a god. 

The Chaousarou will have killed eight to ten people by the time the invesigators come across the rite to return the horror to its world. Eventually after the third new moon, the dimensional shift will hurl the monster back to its own space time but who knows how many people it will have killed by then. Gain 1d10 minor spells and rites as well as the correct spell to banish the Chaousarou back to its home world. 

STR 36

CON 30

SIZ 40

POW 15

DEX 8

Move 10 Swimming

HP 35

Damage Bonus: +4d6

Weapons:

Bite – 95%, 2d6 + Damage Bonus

Armor: 6 points

Skills: Watery Stealth 65%, Spot 55%, Listen 70%.

Sanity Loss: Lose 1d2/1d6 Sanity Points on seeing A Chaousarou.

Capsize – A Chaousarou can spend an attack action to capsize a rowboat, canoe or other small watercraft by rolling its SIZ or less on D100. If it succeeds, the boat is overturned.

Death Roll – A Chaousarou that scores a special hit with its

To learn more about the Chaousarou, visit Clint Staples blog right over HERE
Or pick up the Mythos Society Guide To New England for a ton more solid old school Call of Cthulhu information.
 Available right HERE

Note that this adventure encounter could easily be translated into a wide variety of horror retroclones with little issue. 

Free Weird Wednesday Comic Book Download - Comix International Issue #5 (Warren Publishing) (1977) For Your Old School Campaigns

Grab It Right
HERE

This is one of those classic Warren publishing reprints from 1977 which includes some great old school comics reprints in the Warren tradition. Some of these are perfect for use with your old school campaigns.
This issue includes : 

Bowser - This is the story of a boy and his monster, the art is great but the twisted story has some very interesting twists and turns, enough to use as the basis for a modern take on a weirdly humorous old school adventure looking for the victims of 'Bowser' and the horror filled Lovecraftian spawn of this monster. 

The Succubus Stone- What happens when those dark and dangerous magical relics and artifacts from your dungeons end up in a modern setting with dark Lovecraftian overtones? Murder,mayhem, and possibly a story with a lead in for a Call of Cthulhu style investigation. There are some nice monstrous possibilities in this story as well. The stone can provide a few twisted avenues to add in as background for even a D&D style adventure. After where did it come from? Was your party responsible for its recovery? 

Vampirella: The Corpse with the Missing Mind - This story has plenty mad science ends and a bit of a twist or two that might be added in to a post apocalpytic or dark fantasy adventure quite easily. The artwork is solid and its a quick read as well. Nice source material to play around with. 

The Mummy...and an End - Warren takes yet another crack at their own version of the classic Universal movie tale without being a Universal movie. There's plenty of hard core horror elements to pull from for a solid Call of Cthlhu follow up investigation or even a dungeon crawl related to this one. Nice artwork and solid mix of stories is what we've got with this end of a series. Plenty of fodder between the bandages here. 

Deja Vu -Witch craft, past lives, dark implications, and dire warnings spell black magic and trouble in this tale. This dark tale is a perfect modern mid level investigation for a team to come into the story after the fact. A good solid shocker with plenty to offer a DM. 

The Demons of Father Pain- Diabolical murder, dismemberment, and a dark story line that could be used for a Lamentations of the Flame Princess style story or a Gothic retroclone adventure with some artistic license and redressing. 

The Origin of the Spirit - The Will Eisner classic is a perfect piece of adventure fodder for a Strange Adventures or modern style mini adventure. The artwork is classic Will Eisner and the tale is a quick read. Very handy for an evening's entertainment. 

In Deep- A nice Gothic take on the classic tale of survival, murder, and mayhem. A very handy tale to have adventurers come in after the fact and easily redressed for a classic Gothic horror or retroclone style adventure. 

Comix International Issue #5 (Warren Publishing) (1977) was a nice shift up from some of the other material appearing on the comic market back in the Seventies. The quality was a nice change of pace and its great material to pull from and not well known among gamers that much. The vibe of high weirdness and horror twisting adds a certain something when pulling on these comics for your old school gaming. Because its free its an added bonus. 

Quick And Quiet Alchemy Along The Western Front An AD&D 1st and Call of Cthulhu Adventure Encounter During WWI

During the heaviest of the fighting of WWI along the Western Front in France, your party of investigators is part of a group that finds a random former occupied German trench. Within the trench are 1d30 dead German soldiers seemingly mummified and drained of all life. All equipment, stores, food, etc. is a mess scattered around the trench and the small alcove office of the officer in charge. 

Within the center of the make shift barracks is a four foot across hole in the ground, there are bits of pottery and odd bits of a glass like material scattered around the hole. There is slimy oily reside coating the material found and the corpses of the German soldiers.
Personal effects are untouched and photos of family and friends are clenched in some of the corpse's hands as if they were in the midst of a meal and suddenly taken by surprise.

Suddenly a strange slime like beast erupts from the ground, the horror will attack the investigators with fury born out of some ancient nameless hell trying to absorb any chemicals from their bodies and person. The thing will with draw after 1d6 rounds and flow back into the hole in the ground.
A careful examination of the German officer's table and effects will reveal an odd and very old metal box. Inside the box is a glass sealed tube in decaying fabric lining. The package is accompanied with an oil soaked note in old Latin.
It outlines the efforts of the French alchemist Leroy Bernard  whose former lands and alchemy workshop the Germans uncovered. And the horror he accidentally created experimenting with an ancient Greek scroll he brought back with him in the 1400's from the Middle East.
Bernard could not destroy it at the time and only contain the horror after it killed his neighbors and their cow. The nameless horror he writes consumed all of his chemicals, compounds, and reagents. And only by baiting the thing was he able to finally trap it within a specially constructed glass and pottery holding chamber. This 'chamber' was etched with special symbols divined from ancient writings old when Atlantis was young.
It wasn't until ten years after trapping and burying the horror that he was able to create a means to destroy the thing. The very potion you now hold in your hands was created at great expense and with knowledge wrought from alchemist brother from the far East. But he had lost the nerve and bravery to destroy the thing. He writes that he prayers to God above that the thing never escapes it glass prison for it's vengeance will be an unholy thing to witness. Its appetites are are dangerous in the extreme.
The potion must coat the horrid monstrous slime for it to be effective. The potion will instantly react to the thing when it hits causing it to have a violent chemical reaction as the molecular bonds of the thing explode and break down. It causes an unholy sound to echo through the chamber and beyond. 

Bernard's Quick Silver Ooze
Frequency : Unique 

Number Appearing: one 

Armor Class: 8

Hit Dice: 15 

% in Lair: 90%

Treasure Type: Nil

Number of Attacks : 1 

Damage 2-16 

Special Attacks: As Gray Ooze but absorbs chemicals with a round

Special Defense: As Gray Ooze 

Magic Resistance : 40% with a 10% chance of the spell being reflected back on the caster  

Intelligence: Low but cunning 

Alignment: Chaotic Evil 

Size: L 

Psionic Abilities: Nil 

Attack/Defense Mode: Nil
Inspired by William Thresher's Quick Silver Ooze HERE
Note Bernard's Quick Silver Ooze  is weak and does not have the random abilities of  producing mist, quickly splitting, or the other random table effects of its Path finder name sake. It has only recently escaped and its molecular/chemical abilities are not stable.. yet.

Bernard's Quick Silver Ooze
For Call of Cthulhu

Str 30 

Con 42
Siz: 30 

Int : 5

Pow: 10 

Dex: 4 

Move :10 

HP 30
Weapons : Bite 55% 2d6 +2, Crush 

Av Dam Bonus: +4d6

Armor: None immune to fire & cold, physical weapons do one point of damage 

Regenerates two hit points per round 

Spells none 

Sanity Loss 0/1d6 sanity points 

Notes:
The germ for this adventure encounter was a conversation between myself and Michael O Varhola concerning La Baionnette No. 34: Le Systeme D (The Bayonet No. 34: System D) available right over HERE and the horrors of WWI. If you haven't checked out  La Baionnette No. 34: Le Systeme D (The Bayonet No. 34: System D) you can grab it HERE. I've got more of this material coming up soon.
 Special thanks to William Thresher for the Quick Silver Ooze and Skirmisher publishing for the great ideas. 

Free Psycho Magazine 1973 Issue # 8 For Your Old School Campaigns

Grab It Right Here 

HERE

Another Monday brings another free old school Skywald download, Psycho magazine was always a favorite of mine. It was a perfect blend of high weirdness, old school horror, and more. This issue features some impressive offerings. Skywald has a distinctive feel by comparison to the Warren Publishing affairs. Some of their material seems a tad more lurid and on edge or perhaps that's just me. 

We start out right out the gate with a look at the Grand_Guignol which if you haven't used this vernerible theater of the mind and blood for your old school games especially Call of Cthulhu or Lamentations of the Flame Princess as backdrop material clink on the link.

It doesn't get any more perfect to set your investigators or adventurrs on edge then the grand illusions and plays of the theater of blood. Place it as you will and enjoy the spectacles. 



A Gargoyle - A Man is a very interesting twist on a very old tale. This tale features the first appearance of a pair of very unlikely and wonderful heroes in the form of a husband and wife set of gargoyles. If you've never thought of a monster as a PC then this is an excellent resource to start with.
There are echoes of the Frankenstein myth mixed in with low level Satanic cult and their demonic Lovecraftian horrific minion. This story is a nice gate way for a horror campaign where man is more of the monster and the monsters are far more humane then the men.
Another nice e middle article on Lon Chaney Sr., there's actually a really nice little resource as film catalog of some of Chaney's best and most interesting films. 
Good fodder for an old school horror DM or players, Chaney never disappoints.
Devil's Woman is simply perfect for a Lamentations of the Flame Princess rpg or Call of Cthulhu rpg set of NPC's . A down and dirty cult of occultists right out of a Hammer film done right. Marv Wolfman, Andru, and Esposito crank up the occult action in this one with monster straight out of the Lamentations summoning spell table. A nasty little cult perfect to unleash on a modern or Renaissance or psuedo European dark fantasy country of your choice. 
'Have You Ever Seen The Black Rain' is a multi chapter whirl wind of Dark Fantasy and horror in the weird Hammer style of Skywald. This is a nice take on the dark legacies that were spun out in the Gothic penny dreadfuls and are perfect fodder for a dark legacy in the New World. Nice background fodder for a CoC adventure or an old school horror story. 
'Filthy Little House of Vodoo ' makes an excellent adventure location for any old school horror game but CoC comes to mind with a Seventies dark background. It includes a nice set up for a sprawling NPC wizard and packs of ghouls roaming the countryside. 
A Bad Choke is a nod back to the ghost stories of the Fifties and makes a nice little quick encounter with ends of the dire attentions of a ghost. The PC's come in right at the end and the action can pick up from there. 
City of Crypts - One part dark adventure encounter, one part CoC fodder, and the perfect twist on the Egyptian mummy story with a boomerang thrown in at the end. The PC's come in find the 'girl' and there's the potential for a very large lost city mega dungeon. Which brings us to the close of Issue number Eight. 

'Beyond The Silver Threshold' - A Supernatural Horror Adventure Encounter For BASH & Call Of Cthulhu On The Dark Corner Blog

An artifact has been uncovered among the dusty shelves of a New England museum and has been spreading a blood curse of terrifying power causing blood shed and supernatural horror wherever it goes but this is just the beginning. The terrible power it represents will cause all who come in contact with it to have their lives altered forever. A horror adventure encounter for the BASH or Call of Cthulhu system based upon the creations of Clint Staples the author of the Mythos Guide To New England!

Photo by Johnbod 

Right Over 

HERE