Review & Commentary on Nuelow Games Lovewitch supplement By Steve Miller For Your OSR or D20 campaigns

 "In an age before the rise of human civilizations, empires ruled by aliens and gods dominated the Earth. Prominent among these was Atlantis. This nation had its roots in a solar system far removed from our own, and they colonized the Sol system through a mixture of technology and magic that was the hallmark of their civilization."

So what exactly is Nuelow Games The Love Witch? Well its all about a hybrid of graphic novel or comic book old school Seventies goodness & Miller's game design according to him ; "

The Love Witch contains three exciting tales that mix high fantasy and horror by master comics-scribe Marv Wolfman, with gorgeous art by Ernie Colon, Don Heck, and others. The book also contains an all-new feat and talent-based magic system that can be brought into any d20 System and which is far more flexible than is typical, as it is not tied to any class- or level-based abilities." And its within these abilities & gaming design that Miller's writing shows through because this right up my campaign alleyway. The magic of Atlantis is solidly laid bare here. This is a tight book clocking in at fifty six pages with of Atlantean magic via the Love Witch PC class but its really not. We'll get to that. And its here that the book shines. We get alternative schools of Necromancy, a full view of the PC class & deeper mysteries into the fate of Atlantis. 
Because of Nuelow Games approach to the Love witch I got exactly what I need with crossover potential with Witchkind & the Immortals both of which play key rolls within my campaigns. Did I happen to mention the rather nasty cult of evil druids that appears within the comics that will be perfect minions of Chaos for this campaign?! 

So is this a PC class or not?! Sorta but more  of a legacy according to Miller;"It was mentioned above that Atlantean magic is not a class feature in the d20 System. Instead, heroes gain the ability to use magic by acquiring one or more feats either during character creation or as they advance in level. Their spellcasting abilities grow more refined and powerful through additional feats, as well as talents and ranks in certain skills. Depending on when the GM’s campaign is set, or what relationship the heroes have to Atlantean enclaves after the continent has been destroyed, the characters may have access to the feats that form the foundation of the spellcasting system in this book." And its this that makes the Love witch easy to slip into a campaign. Things like 'Deathless' make the Love witch an easy match for Immortals; "Deathless [General] You are hard to kill. If slain, you will rise from your grave. Your supernatural patron wants your work to continue. Prerequisite: Ancient Blood or Ancient Spirit Benefit: +2 to Fort and Will saves. Special: When the character is dropped below -10 hit points (or the threshold used for “dead” in the campaign), he or she doesn’t die. Instead, the character’s spirit leaves the body and continues to exist as a formless entity on the mortal plane. If the Disembodied template is available in the campaign (see NUELOW’s Ghost Woman), the character has gained that template. If not, the character exists formless near the location of his or her demise until a suitable living vessel comes along. The character may attempt to possess the being. The target receives a Will save (DC12+your character level) to resist. If the target is injured or somehow emotionally vulnerable or frightened, the Will save is DC8+your character level. The target immediately gains Dual Souls as a bonus feat, with this character become Character B. (See Dual Souls for details.)" 
And this makes it simple for the DM to take Castles & Crusades Siege system or Fantastic Heroes & Witchery to adapt the Love witch to their home campaigns.  

Is the Love witch perfect?! No its a supplement that's built to fit into Miller's OGL material but easily lifted & fitted for an experienced DM. It has that Seventies horror comics vibe & we've had one player whose PC is going down the Love witch path & has the ancestry for this supplement's magic. All in all its a fine addition to the DM's tool box. 

Review & Commentary On Neulow Games's Stardust the Super Wizard (2016) By Fletcher Hanks, & Steve Miller

 "Stardust the Super Wizard is a name spoken in hushed whispers throughout the universe, He uses his vast knowledge of interplanetary science and sorcery to monitor all inhabited worlds, and when he finds beings he considers exceptionally evil or vile, he dispenses the justice he feels they deserve. Once you've incurred the wrath of the Super Wizard, you are done for!"

For many now the Nuelow games universe setting has been one that we've been dipping into for many years. A combination of public domain comic book series & supplement the whole book  is more then the combination of its parts. This formula is one that allows Nuelow to flesh out characters such as Stardust The Super Wizard; "Stardust the Super Wizard from NUELOW Games collects six tales from the Golden Age of Comics by one or its most eccentric and erratic creators, Fletcher Hanks. Although he only worked in comics for a brief time during 1939 to 1941, the over-the-top nature of his work left a permanent mark on the emerging artform--and it makes the stories worth reading even today. The "Stardust the Super Wizard" series is where his bizarre story-telling style was most prominently on display. followed closely by run on the "Fantomah" series (highlights from which are featured in NUELOW's The Three Lives of Fantomah: Mystery Woman of the Jungle." 
Who is Stardust The Super Wizard? According to the Public Domain Super Hero site; "Stardust the Super Wizard lived on a "private star" far out in space. He patrolled the cosmos fighting criminals, racketeers, spies, and terrorists, but comes to Earth after intercepting a radio signal from America."  And Neulow Games 
What really makes Stardust The Super Wizard is the cultclassic comic artwork but who was this renagade comic book artist from the Golden Age of comic books;"Fletcher Hanks, Sr. (December 1, 1889 – January 22, 1976) was a cartoonist from the Golden Age of Comic Books, who wrote and drew stories detailing the adventures of all-powerful, supernatural heroes and their elaborate punishments of transgressors. In addition to his birth name, Hanks worked under a number of pen names, including "Hank Christy," "Charles Netcher," "C. C. Starr," and "Barclay Flagg." Hanks was active in comic books from 1939 to 1941" Here's a great article on the comic book work & fate of Fletcher Hanks.

 Stardust The Super Wizard would  be considered a cultclassic  cosmic anti hero & he's a reality bender with super science. This cosmic demigod is as bizarre today as he was back when he exploded onto the Golden Age. Stardust alters criminals, bends reality, & causes complete genocide of several gangs. Stardust the Super Wizard (2016) has several super science devices of some really twisted applications for adventures. Because  is a simple OGL d20 Modern product & so easily convert to most OSR systems. Steve Miller doesn't get half the credit that he should as a game designer.  Stardust the Super Wizard  works well as a NPC antagonist for OSR super heroes. There are several super hero systems that I'd use  Stardust the Super Wizard  as a main villain. The original material for  Stardust the Super Wizard  is well done.  Stardust is a perfect candidate for a cult leader or the like because he acts as judge, jury, & executioner. His actions towards his continuum's Earth are bizarre. In some respects Stardust reminds me of DC Comic's Mister Mxyzptlk with his crazy actions & 

I can see playing an epic campaign of bizarre  crazy reality bending adventure &   weirdness. Invading Stardust's base could be climax of a long series of weird adventures with Stardust doing incredibly strange things along the way. 
The thing to remember about Stardust The Super Wizard is the fact that this is a character of absolutes, the punishments ironically  fit the crimes. Things that detract from Stardust the Super Wizard ? Stardust the Super Wizard 's base needs to be improved. The map while usable needs a huge improvement but other then that Stardust the Super Wizard  is completely usable as a villain or antihero of the highest order. I'd say four out of five & I've got a whole lotta of Stardust the Super Wizard  action coming in one of my campaigns so stay tuned. 

Review of D20 Terrors of Egypt From NUELOW Games

I was looking for some new D20 resources for my upcoming Dungeon Crawl Classics game. I received Terrors of Egypt as a gift from a friend today and now I'm very sorry I did. This pdf retails for around two dollars and twenty five cents clocks in at forty eight pages of public domain horror comics. These are really good horror comics with really zero D20 material. There's one crappy D20 Egyptian themed zodiac chart in this horror comic book anthology for character generation and that's part of the missed opportunity of this book. The author simply looks like he cleaned up the public domain comic book source material and didn't bother to write in the adventure opportunities, D20 monster stat blocks, mystic items, and mini adventures all hidden in the comic book stories themselves there by rendering this book for game use absolutely pointless.




But then again NUELOW Games it seems isn't about giving the public useful D20 gaming resources its about making a quick buck out of public domain comic book material. Terrors of Egypt had the potential to be a really useful forty eight page anthology and source  book woven together from public domain comic book material. Instead they've put together a slip shod hacked title that they've got the nerve to charge the public money for. This book isn't even worth the half a star. The design is crap, the premise is a solid one but one little D20 resource surrounded by some great vintage horror comics that with a bit of work could have been something great. F- for this effort in slip shod writing and design work. According to the Drivethrurpg blurb "The center piece of Terrors of Egypt is Alan Hewetson and Cesar Lopez's tale of the mysterious and bewitching Khefra, collected here for the first time anywhere, but the other stories are also sure to haunt your imagination long after you've put the book down."  Umm not exactly, these comics were taken from the  The Digital Comic Museum which offers free access to thousands  of pre-1959 comic books, uploaded by users who often offer historical research and commentary alongside high-quality scans. NUELOW dusted the scans off & knocked this "comics anthology"  together. Save yourselves two dollars and a bunch  of gaming pain and headaches. Grab yourselves a membership over at the Digital Comic Museum and begin downloading your own precode horror, fantasy, and sci fi comic book titles yourself then create your own old school gaming material.


 Christ, this is the first time in a long time that I've given this low of a rating to a product but what pisses me off is the potential is there but it seems like sheer laziness on Nuelow games part.  If they had put some effort into a product that advertises itself as Terrors of Egypt this title really had a lot of potential to really be something very useful at the table. Next time Nuelow games  please put i a bit of effort into your next Egypt line title. As a precode comic book fan and old school gaming enthusiast Terrors of Egypt left me bitterly disappointed, incensed and totally pissed off at the author whose past work was far more up to par then this drek that passes itself as a "D20"  product. This is one to avoid at all costs.