Species V By Macheal Brown For The Cepheus Engine Rpg or Cepheus Engine Lite & Other Classic 2d6 Science Fiction Based Rpg's

 "One June morning, huge flying craft suddenly appeared in the skies above several major cities. Three days later, a voice translated into many different tongues requested peaceful contact with the people of Earth. A week after the arrival of the strange craft, the Secretary-General of the United Nations was the first human to directly contact an alien race. The V’siilir, as they called themselves, were tall reptiloids that resembled in some ways an evolved species of dinosaur. They asked nothing more than Earth’s help in restoring their dying planet.

It was several months before people noticed a spate of disappearances, and it was several months later still that people realized the ones who had disappeared had all been critical of or hostile to the V’siilir. The aliens denied any involvement and even assigned details from among their own militias to assist in the searches.

Then a private investigator managed to sneak aboard one of the giant V’siilir vessels and learned the truth: the aliens weren’t from another planet: they were from a parallel Earth where the dinosaurs never died out and evolved sapience. They planned to use their new discovery of inter­dimensional travel to plunder resources and soldiers.

Once the plot was revealed, battle was joined in earnest. The human race has now taken up arms and taken sides in a war to determine the future fate of Earth."

There's a ton of stuff to recommend Cepheus Engine rpg vs regular garden variety high end OSR titles. There's no kickstarters, the authors have their heart & soul in the deep end of the rpg system. One such creator is Michael Brown. Sometimes as a dungeon master your not looking for high concept BS series of monsters or alien species. This isn't the case with Mr. Brown's hobby work because you tell he's put some thought into his creations for many of his rpg  titles. This brings us to Species V. If you want a mini campaign or a quick pick up campaign for Cepheus Engine or Cepheus Light?! This is the campaign for a one night stand or a full access campaign. Does this sound like the famous NBC mini series 'V' from the Eighties?! Hell yes it does! Could Michael get sued?! Nope because Michael is far smarter then that. The Devil is in the details or in this case within the advanced  reptile alien's details. 
The author provides a bite size campaign within two pages for a cinematic campaign. V’siilir are saurian sophonts & we get the full treatment from set up to playing options in two pages. That's right two whole pages of cinematic reptilian goodness. Where can I see using this alien species who may or may not come from another dimensional Earth nearby?! One that springs to mind is using Species V. with Cepheus Engine Lite. Build a campaign from the ground up in Eighties style nostolgia! 

Crack a couple of beers call your players & away you go with Species V. But if you think that's the end of this review then your sadly mistaken. With the Eighties nosoligia there's the option of running this campaign with Shadowfall by Baggage Books. Perhaps the V’siilir are not so unknown to the puny humans of this planet after all?! Because Lovecraft was right all along! He wasn't racist he was complete Xenophobic of the things outside! The things that crawl in the dark place want to rule us all! 

Can I see using  Species V with another 2d6 sci fi setting such as the Hostile Rpg setting?! Awesomeness abounds with this combination with the players fighting a protracted war in a near future world ruled by our reptile like overlords! The cross over potential would make Dark Horse comics jealous! Want to port over to a smaller venue?! Grab Zozer Games Out World Authority & bring a free quick start one night war! 

So say you wanna take the fight to  Species V?! Well grab a copy of Empire of Time by Baggage Games & beat the reptile bastards back to the stone age across space & time! Heck you can do it across multiple time periods! 

Oh but I want something more complicated & more like the X Files involving Species V? Fine then go all of the way back to the Game Designers Workshop days & grab Dark Conspiracy rpg first edition. Then use the material in Species V to fill in the background for one of the reptilian aliens in the game & go forward with a kick ass game of X Files like action! 

But,but, I want a far more hard core post apocalytic game with the aliens from that classic TV mini series from the Eighties?! Well then take  Species V & add in classic Twilight 2000 let it boil & then really bring home a 'Walking Dead' style campaign using classic original hard core post apocalyptic rpg. Want really blow the players minds add Species V as the source behind the adventure events of Twilight Nightmares adventure 'The Rumors of Our Extinction…" But run Twilight Nightmares with Twilight 2000 first edition. You'll thank me later. 

Is  Species V perfect?! Hell no! Its a bite sized mini campaign homage to a classic Eighties NBC television mini series with its own twist & turns but for what I as a DM need it too do. Species V  fits the bill in spades. 

'Playing Out In The Rocks' Cepheus Engine Rpg Session Report - Missles Away!

 This week's session goes from bad to worse & picks up right with the New England Bouys handling the space pirates. But circumstances can change & this week picks right up from our last session. 



The New England Bouys had a tangle with a group of four pirate space swimmers & their crew last night. The crew of Allard Technologies Harford sent two missiles on the space pirates bio ships & scored hits! The third hid behind the wreckage of the  remains of  two fifty year old TL11 100-TON BUCCA-CLASS PROSPECTOR ships. Space Swimmers were not equipped with weaponry per say but there was a powerfule psionic creature aboard one of the ships that was destroyed.

 The Bouys have opted to check out several of the wrecks to see if there is any technology for salvage.  The last space swimmer came out & got targetted by the missile launchers finally. And another direct hit made short work out of it!
 Major General Fuller has awakened from  cryo sleep & wants to send the marines down to the station! This will cause the loss of the bonus for the boys & Allard! 

Allard has been nice up until now about most of the major ins & outs of their dealings with the marines. But they have an ace up their sleeves in the form of a deal with Petro Chemix corporation which mapped this sector before the Fall of Man. One of our player's used that deal as leverage against the marines ham stringing them on both this mission & salvage. Now the players have decisions to make for next week's game. 
So this week I've been working on incorporating some more of 3G3 More Guns systems into the campaign & everything seems to be going smoothly. 

Several of the players are questioning if this is the real Major General Fuller or not?! The question remains on everyone's mind for next week! 

'Playing Out In The Rocks' Cepheus Engine Rpg Session Report - Surprise Attack In The Asteroids!

 Tonight's Hostile Cepheus Engine hybrid game picks up immediately after last week's session here. We find the New England Bouys not in a happy place tonight. They've sent a probot on a mission to check out the alien power station in tonight's game with a solid sensor package. 

Ron Cobb Nostromo interior concepts from here 

They have the option of sending in a manned  Horizon Survey craft ( they want to outfit the craft with a fully updated sensor suite )  before setting foot on this alien station. A new wrinkle in tonight's game is finding out that Major General Fuller from the Marines is aboard the Hartford the city ship factory vessel. Major General Fuller is in cryo sleep at the moment. The PC's seem to trust the  brand new NPC named Akachi (God's hand) from Godstar's Million Sun's Empire. 
                                                                                                                              

The New England Bouys have aceess to a psionic circle of Grey hybrids whose contract was bought by Allard Technologies. These Grey hybrids have included the PC's within their psionic clutch & its the PC's who are considering sending two of the Grey spacers in the Horizon Survey craft to check out the alien power station. In tonight's game session the PC's ran into two wrinkles. On the huge ring of meteors around the gas giant. And second was the number of wrecked space craft from before the Fall of Man  within the ring. There's very little psionic distortion around the background of the gas giant. They found the remains of  two fifty year old TL11 100-TON BUCCA-CLASS PROSPECTOR ships. These ships are not from the Talon sector at all & originate within the campaign's sector of These Stars Are Ours Uranium Fever supplement. 
Miners have been here before but there's lots of carbon scoring on the edges of the space craft's hulls.. While there's no psionic wall to fry one of the New England Bouys two psionics. Akachi (God's hand) can't penatrate psionically either the gas giant or the alien station. Some device or artifact is interfering with his abilities. 

Needless to say the bear trap so to speak is causing all kinds of caution within the players. The players want to check out the wrecks to make sure that there are no pirates lurking within them. Or within the shadow of the wrecks orbit. 
And that' when the pirates began their attack! But these are not your typical pirates! These are a couple of  space swimmers from the Dark Conspiracy rpg's Dark Tek book! These things uncouple themselves from the asteroids & make their way towards the Hartford! All hands on deck to repel the bastards! 

'Playing Out In The Rocks' Cepheus Engine Rpg Session Report - Eye of the Storm Mission - Briefing

 In game time the New England Bouys have been in stasis for over a year in hypersleep chambers. The Buckingham the Colonial Frieghter their on makes its way towards a classified destination. They arrived tonight aboard 'the Hartford'. 

The New England Bouys are aboard the Hartford a city sized industrial complex factory on  the outer edge of the Solar System. They've been in sleep now a year or better aboard Zozer Games Colonial Freighter USS Buckingham. They've just made port to the Hartford that belongs to Allard Technologies along with a brand new NPC named Akachi (God's hand) from Godstar's Million Sun's Empire. Anela is a world that suffered a serious atomic war before the Fall of Man. 

Akachi is a 'far wanderer' a psionic with the ability to astrally travel vast interstellar distances. He has stumbled upon a stable  wrecked alien power station  in the grasp of a gas giant  that seems to hold Reticulan artifacts & valuable nuclear fuel. This data was shared with the Russians.  The in question  data was stolen back on Earth sparking a 'shadow war' in Earth orbit & back planet side. The corporations warred among themselves for rights & contracts.                                                                                                                      

Ron Cobb Nostromo interior concepts from here 

The PC's have been making themselves at home going over the data about the Hartford. Allard Technologies division is now equipping a team of tigers with modified G-11's & heavy weapons to accompany the bouys on a recovery mission inside the alien  power station. The alien power  station  is parked inside  the stable storm on a gas giant at the very far edge of the solar system. 

The gas giant alien power station  concept was  inspired by this artwork by the late great H.G. Giger RIP. Here's where Zozer Games Explorers comes in handy for many of the mission elements coming up. Most of the tigers & mission specialist equipment for this is from More 3G3.. 

The new NPC named Akachi (God's hand) has several empathic abilities that were directly adapted from Dark Conspiracy rpg's Empathic Handbook . And in fact some but not all of the adventure elements come from the Dark Conspiracy rpg game. Is the party walking into a bear trap adventure or a nega dungeon adventure location?!
Yes & no folks. There's a protodimenion gate laying at the heart of this power station but its not what you think. For now the player's PC's are getting ready for the mission. 

OSR Commentary - Dark Conspiracy & The Origins of the Malmori Empire in The Talon Sector Campaign For The Cepheus Engine Rpg

 Gotta love gamers, since yesterday their have been numerous folks now jumping on the Dark Conspiracy train. Well today we're gonna talk about the origin of the Malmori Empire within my modified Hostile/Cepheus Engine rpg  campaign. The campaign's version of the Malmori empire was born out of several  books Hostile's Crew Expendible, Synethtics, Darktek, More G3G book, & These Stars Are Ours campaign setting book. The Malmori Empire is a race of space pirates under the control of the warlord Sador. They've been the 'big bad' since the campaign's inception but actually their a red herring in every sense of the word. 

When the Reticulan empire fell their humanoid clone worker race was left to its own devices but they were completely purposeless. Their Gray masters had left them many of their own devices but the ancient  Malmori were vulnerable to the whispers of far darker voices from between the stars. So they took up to the stars again mining & generally behaving in the fashion that they had under their master's yoke. The Malmori were cloned from ancient peoples of Earth eons ago taken in one of the many Reticulan raids on Earth. 
Soon came mankind spinning out among the stars with planetary colonies & taking control of many of the Malmori mining terroritories. Shades of the 'Pirates of the Ancient Mediterranean' ; "the decline of the Seleucid Empire in the 2nd century BCE and ended when Pompey the Great (l. c. 106-48 BCE) defeated the Cilician pirates at the Battle of Coracesium in 67 BCE when, actually, Egyptian records substantiate piratical activities in the Mediterranean centuries earlier and Roman accounts report its continuance for centuries afterwards. " Many of the alien species encountered were actually mankind genetically modified by the Reticulans. The Malmori were an early attempt & were perhaps made with a modified genetic flaw. Their organs & body parts would break down after the 20 year mark. 

A Malmori warrior whose battle/medical suit keeps him intact against the hostil effects of a planetary atmosphere. 

The warlord Sador was a part of the elite cast & could live up to two hundred years with organ & limb replacement. The Malmori were made using the rules & guidelines found in Zozer Games Synethtics book. But these clone armies are flawed because the clones were force grown using the cloners found in the Darktek book.

 This particular band of Reticulans had fallen under the sway of dark forces & so too were the Malmori. Since the advent of the psionic storms they have had no further contact with humanity. But they retained many of the star ships left by their Reticulan masters. This included several stellar converters used for harvesting the cores of planets or converting stars into highly unstable radioactives for processing.

 

 Only recently have several Habringer cargo carriers  started to go missing along the border with the Human Empire have the corporations noticed the return of the Malmori empire. Patterns indicate that there may far more going on here as entire crews have been missing or harvested depending upon the rumors. The Reticulan empire is particuarly silent upon the mattter for moment. Weaponry & tactics of the Malmori  come straight out of the More G3G book. While some of the technologies of the Malmori themselves are left over Darktek equipment used by their twisted Reticulan empire former masters. TSAO: 50 Wonders of the Reticulan Empire  represents another branch of the Reticulans who have not fallen under the thrall or yoke of the dark masters of the far darker Greys.  Star Law is only coming under the suspision that the Malmori are becoming a problem once again. What's really been helpful here is Piracy and Privateering in fleshing out aspects of the Malmori Empire. Are the Malmori victims of circumstance or have they become tools for something far more dangerous?! 

 

Commentary on The Darktek book for Dark Conspiracy rpg & Its Uses In Cepheus Engine Rpg campaigns

"Behind the shadows of our world, the Dark Ones lurk, plotting humanity's ruin. Their Dark Minions stalk us, armed with horrific devices, the products strange and hideous sciences. Human agents capture what they can, hoping for weapons that will aid them in their fight. And in some secret strongholds, individual ETs who have escaped the darkness labor side by side with human scientists, creating items to hold the Dark Ones off.

Meanwhile the megacorporate sector pursues technologies that pander to the wealthy. For many, HiTek is the truest symbol of high status. Worn like a coat of arms, it distinguishes the movers and shakers from the increasingly disenfranchised hordes of 'commoners' below.

In this volume, you will find items ranging from the gruesome biologic weapons of the Dark Minions, to the futuristic constructs of the ETs, to the most advanced in human technology. But all belong to the world of Dark Conspiracy, a world that is itself ever more a product of DarkTek. "

Darktek is a missed opportunity in the Dark Conspiracy rpg. A raging hole in the Dark Conspiracy rpg line of books. And on & on & on go the reviews of  the Darktek  book published in 1991 by Games Designers Workshop  that have cropped up over the years. This is true of of this  review  from Marcus Bone.  Which none of the Drivethrurpg Dark Tek reviews seem to agree with at all. Why?! Because of the fact that oh sure there's the usual  rpg equipment geek stuff like weapons, melee weapons, camping equipment, etc.. But Dark Tek  also has  a ton of retro technology that seems to be more in place of some alternative Thirties or Nineties  style sci fi Earth. So in other words Darktek fits  the world of  Dark Conspiracy itself.  But what does Darktek have to do with Cepheus Engine?! Quite a bit actually. 

The real difference between most equipment books & Darktek? Is the fact that Darktek is orient not only towards the PC's but mostly towards the dark forces & their minions. And their occultech style technologies have a high cost factor  indeed to the PC's humanity as well as their sanity. For Cepheus Engine Darktek is a perfectly designed PC/enemy book in one. Why?! Well because Bagagge Books Empire of Time offers alternative time period settings where Darktek could be very useful indeed.
"It’s been 20 years since time travel was invented and the here-and-now, the good old 21st century, is in the middle of a revolution. You switched your major in university because of it and it’s paid off: you’re heading up-time, on a mission to the Chovu Imoi, an intelligent species that won’t even evolve for another 600 million years. It’ll be three weeks’ journey on the old model Hyundai time ship the expedition has bought second-hand from the University of Victoria, but you’ve tried to pack light. " 


Want to find out who & what are really in control of a vast empire of alternative time periods?! Empire of Time is a perfect fit for this coupled with Darktek. Here you can have agents of time putting the hurt on the dark minions across space & time. 

The reason for this is very simple, Charles E. Gannon the author of Darktek was very active in the fandom of Traveller 2300 AD and in fact is a contributor to Stygian Fox's Colonial Times fanzine. 

And so the reader of Darktek who happens to be an old school Traveller rpg player recognizes the vac suits. The full on space equipment and much more this opens up all kinds of possibilities for gaming on alternative timelines & Earths. 
And it also means that the forces of darkness have also been busy exploiting these alternative historical time lines. This is just the sort of weirdness that would see in Michael Brown's Among The Stars Silent Screaming .. 

For the Hostile Rpg Darktek offers some very strong possibilities as an alternative equipment book for the bad guys. Imagine your marines facing down colonial terrorists armed with ancient occult pact technologies that can offer a real challenge to the party. Or a Zaibatsu gang armed by an ancient Oni ready to take down a whole corporation. The possibilities are endless. 

Is Darktek completely perfect? Hell no. But it does suit my purposes for my current Cepheus Engine rpg campaign that's ongoing. 

Review & Commentary on Baggage Games Shadowfall by Paul Drye For Cepheus Engine Rpg or Original Traveller rpg

 "The cultists had it all wrong. What if the stars came right and no-one even noticed? Shadowfall takes you to a 1984 where the governments of the world reached an accomodation with some of the universe's horrors and set a watch for the rest, at the cost of giving up what was once best about humanity. Freedom, pity, tolerance -- they've all been traded for security and paranoia, and the powers-that-be admire and even emulate their amoral allies. Intelligence and military ops run amuck and it is not at all a good time to stand out,"


Baggage Books is one of those outfits that recently came to our attention through being in the middle of the Cepheus Engine Rpg community. So what is Shadowfall? Its basically the meet point between Cepheus Engine & H.P. Lovecraft's mythos in a modern dark alley of club X Files. The Cthlhu mythos have not been quiet in the modern world of 2021. Instead they've been very busy putting themselves into the modern world. Your PC's are the agents, fighters, supernatural surivors trying to deal with the modern problems of the Lovecraftian races, gods, etc. on Earth. The cults of these horrors have not been idle folks. They've been on the move full force &  Shadowfall feels like a mounting war campaign setting for the  Cepheus Engine rpg. Clocking in at 92 pages there's more then enough here to kick off such a campaign. The advantage here is the added benefit of Cepheus Engine rpg extensive system background. The layout & page design is standard Cepheus Engine rpg supplemental book stuff. The font is servicable, the layout solidly done for  Shadowfall. This is both an investigative or straight to the point Lovecraftian Mythos horror campagin setting in the making. 

Shadowfall as a straight up Lovecraftian Mythos horror campagin setting is dark & brutal. The shadowy masters are there but they have their own hidden agendas. The Lovecraftian material is well done, hits the high notes, and brings home some its own feel within Shadowfall. Carrer paths are solidly done. Shadowfall could easily stand completely & utterly on its own as a Cepheus Engine rpg horror setting with its own Lovecraftian spin. 

Shadowfall has its own internal take on the mythos, its histories, the conspiracy theory like shadowy Lovecraftian alien races,cults, etc. slightly different then say the venerable Call of Cthlhu rpg.Shadowfall is a modern game setting with some highly dangerous forces just waiting to snuff out PC's. And what's really enjoyable is that its a self contained alternative Nineteen Eighty Four campaign setting. And yes there's mention of Ronald Ragan, Margret Thatcher, all of the usual suspects. But here the Mythos looms large in the background colouring everything with its Lovecraftian taint. 
Shadowfall is a queer beast because it fills a niche within the Cepheus Engine rpg genre that being cosmic horror with its own spin the usual Lovecraftian stories, & material. That's really nicely done making Shadowfall valuable for that reason alone. Now add in the interstellar expansiveness of the Cepheus Engine rpg or original Traveller rpg. Suddenly the interstellar scene becomes very interesting indeed. 

Shadowfall in point of fact could be used with other Cepheus Engine products such as Micheal Brown's Dossier series of adventures, careers,etc. and whole new campaign vistas open up for the DM to exploit. 

Shadowfall has lots of adventure generation potential for the Cepheus Engine rpg. Paul Drye does an excllent job with his writing bring out the best in some of his adventure seeds, giving possible campaign hooks, and bring the Eighties awesomeness into focus in Shadowfall. For a fiver I think Shadowfall is a real bargain with lots of potential. 
Side note Shadowfall makes an excellent Dark Conspiracy rpg addition book as a supplement to add in the Lovecraftian mythos to the DC game universe with no problem at all. Five outta of five for a solid campaign setting book. 

Review & Commentary On Career: Nightstalker By Michael Brown For Cepheus Engine Rpg & other 2d6 Based Games

 "Within the boundaries of known space are countless tech levels, legends, rumors, and oddity. The majority of it is well understood. Other things aren't as well understood, but are on the frontiers of inquiry and bleeding-edge research. Still other phenomena are constantly subjected to discussion and unscientific analysis. But Out There are things stranger still. Things lurking in the shadows. Things that elude the best minds and the finest science. Things even the most rational citizens can only deem supernatural."

"When such strangeness manifests, it sometimes must be dealt with in some fashion. There is a group of people able to do so; trained to investigate, identify, and if necessary eliminate such supernatural threats. Such a group has been operating since the dawn of the interstellar government. They call themselves the Nightstalkers. The Nightstalkers – officially designated Scout Service Subsection X – are a special clandestine branch of the Scouts, charged with investigating events and objects that many would consider within the realm of the paranormal."

There are times when as a DM you read a science fiction or Pulpy science fantasy novel  & thought goes through your head,'You know there should have been a division of troops or scouts that handles that supernatural threat?!' And that's where Career: Nightstalker From Michael Brown comes in. These are the guys who bump back against the supernatural & the weird. You can easily contrast Michael Brown's style of game design against the polished & spit of someone like John  Watts or Paul Elliott. Mr. Brown's style is down & dirty in the trenches where the supernatural evil lays. And that's where you'll find Career: Nightstalker folks. Because when the supernatural hits the fan then you are going to want  Scout Service Subsection X  on your side. Career: Nightstalker clocks in at nine pages of career path goodness & for the 2d6 science fictional goodness of Cepheus Engine rpg its got all of the high marks. Career: Nightstalker is clear,concise, & does a fantastic job of getting you a PC whose going to excel at facing down the nasties in the darkness of space or planet side. 

Cepheus Engine rpg has any number of supernatural or occult style adventures lurking in the background.And if you want an example of this then let's talk about  Revels of the Damned which is exactly the sort of short burst adventure that will kick off a party of Career: Nightstalker investigations with little issue & be able to morph into a short mini campaign. Here the action shifts onto a whole cloth supernatural affair happening right under the noses of the local royals;"The Pleasure Festival is a time for fun, food, revelry, and no-holds-barred hedonism. Unfortunately for the PCs and the other visitors to the Pleasure Guild, it's also a time for an ancient evil to awaken and continue a mission begun millennia ago. The result is insanity, calamity, and visions of impending doom. Can the adventurers get to the bottom of the chaos and put a stop to it? Or will they also be forced to serve a seemingly-immortal malevolence?"

Revels of the Damned  has dangerous weirdness happening right at the ground level. Is this a job for the Scout Service Subsection X?! Oh Hell yes, in spades & its time to get busy tackling the dangers to the local instellar empire. Take Career: Nightstalker add in a bit of Cepheus Modern for your NPC's powers & stats then off you go on a supernatural Cepheus Engine fueled express ride to Hell! 

Career: Nightstalker From Michael Brown offers a no nonsense approach to a supernatural investigative branch for the Cepheus Engine rpg. But it could be used as a far future campaign add on career path for the Dark Conspiracy rpg as well! Scout Service Subsection X has to start someplace & deep within the bowels of the governments of a torn up Earth this is the perfect start point for this organization. And in point of fact Michael Brown's Cold War: Containment does exactly this offering a beginning point for a beginning campaign history for the Scout Service Subsection X. 

Career: Nightstalker From Michael Brown  bang home in nine pages what some games take ages to create. A nine page career path to get your player's PC's kicking supernatural ass in the darkness of space. Why? Because mankind is the warmest place to hide in the cold vacuum of space. 

Review & Commentary Star Grunt II Wargame Rules By John Tuffley from Ground Zero Games & Its Uses With Cepheus Engine rpg

"Stargrunt II is a comprehensive set of generic rules for simulating science-fiction infantry combat in virtually any background. The system covers actions from a few squads up to full company level. Rules are included for infantry, powered armored troops, AFV's, artillery and aerospace support and much much more. The game is designed for use with 25mm or 15mm scale miniatures. The game has a flexible integrated game sequence, minimal record keeping and a brilliant system of distinguishing troop quality. The game encourages the players to think tactically. There are rules for troop confidence, motivation, suppression and much more."

So Ground Zero Games has been rattling through several groups as 'the war game miniatures rules' with Star Grunts II being the rules set to look at. Star Grunts II is scalable for Cepheus Engine & especially for use with the Hostile Rpg setting. Which is a wargame system that has been on our mutual hard drives going back to '96 when it was published written by Jon Tuffley. But now with the second incarnation of the game published the players of our games have stumbled upon a Xenomorph hive aboard the interior of  asteroid. The Star Grunt II is a perfect match with Kurasan miniatures space demons army. 

The Star Grunts II rules work well for technological levels from World War two all of the way through into space marine 40K levels of warfare. E.Mudge review of Star Grunts II  goes into some of the system's highlights; "Stargrunt II is a well-rounded generic 15mm/25mm system that emphasizes hard science fiction.

This game focuses on squads as the basic unit type, places emphasis on tactics; morale; communications and cover and discourages blindly charging into gunfire.

Jon Tuffley includes tables of organization & equipment for each of the major powers in his own world-setting, but uses this more as an example rather than a set-in-stone universe; Jon happily encourages players to use other settings if they wish
Instead of using points costs, Star grunt encourages players to create scenarios and agree on the forces used. The idea is not to pitch a thousand-point army against another thousand-point army, but to create their own armies and play an interesting scenario."

These levels of technology are perfect for the 15mm Stannis Iguana all terrain combat vehicle which looks like it came directly from the film Alien & Aliens. 

Using these for tonight's game is going  to be two player games right side by side. The military aspect of Star Grunts II is right on the money for this campaign. And its well put together from the writing to the rules. Clear, easy to read, concise, & it let's the players build their armies the way they want. Command & control rules are well done. 

Star Grunts II is going to work very well for marrying up with Cepheus Engine Rpg for tonight's game. 

With Alternative Armies HOF51 Grey Alien Landing Party with Flying Saucer  is a perfect insert for a party within the Cepheus Engine rpg setting of These Stars Are Ours. 

The Star Grunts II rules work perfectly as a partner with other rpg systems as well this includes Dark Conspiracy rpg. A where the forces of darkness sometimes need their rears kicked back across the dimensional threshold. And being able to field an army of 15 MM figures works far better then a thousand pictures especially if the players are at the table top level. 

The Profane & The Celestial - Godstar & the Cepheus Engine Rpg Greater Universe Threat

 

"Within the Million Sun Empire sits a desert world orbiting a sentient star: god-himself-the Godstar. Pilgrims flock to it with their offerings. The Godstar's oracles gives out advice, formulae, prognostications and strategy. It is a holy world. But war forced industrialisation on the planet Aurelia, causing social tension and conflict.

A new noble house, House Pelinor, has been granted the fiefdom of Aurelia, but it has many enemies: the local Utani Sand Men, the priests of the Church of the Godstar, the rival House Arakan that it deposed, local crimelords and even the Skygazers, those wandering mystics who claim to speak with the Godstar as they meditate whilst staring up at the blazing disc. They have paranormal powers."

We grabbed Godstar by Zozer Games a little while ago & while its similar to Frank Herbert's Dune series. There's vast differences right from the get go: 

1. Godstar's star is a literal living alien god. An active deity that takes a hand in human affairs
2. The NPC's are very well drawn outside of their stats & are perfectly slotted for the setting. 
3. Unlike Dune a party of adventurers could be perfectly suited to be a group of gladiators 
4. No sand worms which means that desert exploration is an option & encouraged. 

The planet Aurelia is a really an interesting addition to the Cepheus Engine rpg universe. There's more then a bit of backstory that can be pulled into an existing campaign. What is familiar to fans of Dune is the personal force field. These render firearms far less useful. So swords, knives, & spears become far more a part of formal dueling. And all of this seems very much in the vein of Sword & Planet genre. But there is an original Traveller rpg connection. The Ursa Major Confederation or UMC is a free download from Paul Elliot with a major Godstar connection: "Ursa Major Confederation (UMC) The Confederation is a human interstellar state of 27 worlds occupying a single subsector of interstellar space. Humans arrived in the subsector two centuries ago through an alien hypergate" 

Ursa Major Confederation (UMC) fits many of the ideas of the Talon sector's politic, tech levels, & backstory as an outlying branch of humanity that is struggling under the major threat of yet another alien germ within its background. This alien threat is poised to wipe out humanity in several major strikes. 

The Ursa Major Confederation (UMC) could be another branch of humanity taken by aliens making it primed for a major connection to TSRO's diplomatic corps. 

All of this ties back into something that's been on my mind now for quite awhile the idea that the several alien races from Dark Conspiracy rpg are using the Protodimensions as a sort of interstellar short cut. This is where DC's Protodimesions volume 1 comes in. 

Could Godstars mystics & wizards be opening their own universe or star system for invasion. Or are they already well versed in the threat that alien Lovecraftian gods pose?!  According to my fellow DM's its the latter especially if we add Sword of Cepheus to the equation.