OSR Commentary On MAXIMUM MAYHEM DUNGEONS #2 SECRET MACHINES OF THE STAR SPAWN By Mark Taormino From Dark Wizards Games For Your Old School Rpg Campaigns

 "Locals have been hearing whispers of strange happenings around the Ancient Volcano. Rumors over the last several years of an unspeakable evil that has risen up inside. An evil that “fell from the stars.” There is something wicked and devilish going on inside. Highwaymen report of strange creatures, mechanical monsters, horrible beasts and “little green men” that are roaming the land. You and your stalwart adventurers have decided to take on the challenge of plundering the mountain for the treasure within! Oh and get to the bottom of these dastardly stories as well!"

MMD#2 Secret Machines of the Starspawn is a great way to combined Sword & Sorcery with Science Fantasy when unspeakable evil arises from the Ancient Volcano in your campaign world. The idea of a powerful party of adventurers being assembled to investigate the goings on at the 'ancient volcano'. For the  Hyperborea rpg MMD#2 Secrect Machines of the Star Spawn would work very well as an adventure based around one of the outer island nations of Hyperborea. 

MAXIMUM MAYHEM DUNGEONS #2 SECRET MACHINES OF THE STAR SPAWN By Mark Taormino From Dark Wizards Games has some really interesting modules.  SECRET MACHINES OF THE STAR SPAWN By Mark Taormino is a great adventure when you want to introduce both Science Fantasy & High Fantasy elements into your old school campaigns. Thoughts on MMD#2 include the fact that this adventure would work very well as mid point adventure for the  Castles & Crusades rpg quite easily. And in point of fact I'd run this module as sequel or as a side quest with Planet X Games An Occurrence at Howling Crater by Levi Combs. 

Mark Taormino From Dark Wizards Games has a certain mad genius about him & his material compliment's Levi Combs An Occurrence at Howling Crater quite nicely. The mutant hill billies could easily be changed up into mutant peasants & then your off running this for your favorite players. The Star Spawn or his alien species  could well be behind some of the goings on at Howling Crater. The Sci Fi overlap is easy to do for a mini campaign. Because Castles & Crusades is sorta close to fifth edition the stripped down rpg elements are easily converted into your favorite OSR system. 

Mark Taormino brings a certain old school grivtas to his modules & brings home the Sci Fi fantasy elements that many of my players appreciate. The fact is that over the years that I've run SECRET MACHINES OF THE STAR SPAWN By Mark Taormino  there's always been fall out as the gonzo aliens often seem to get away to cause more trouble at a later date for the adventurers. Several friends over the Thanksgiving holiday have expressed the fact that certain adventure elements found within MMD#2 could in point of fact be used to get adventurers to Venger Satanis's Cha'alt! 

So down the line I may run these two modules together as mini campaign coming up either for Castles & Crusades or for the Hyperborea rpg. It's going to depend upon schedules & other factors. 

MAXIMUM MAYHEM DUNGEONS #2 SECRET MACHINES OF THE STAR SPAWN By Mark Taormino From Dark Wizards Games For Your Old School Rpg Campaigns Is Available Here 

The Care & Feeding Of OSR Super Science Wizards In Old School Campaigns

So I've been doing a lot of thinking about Clark Ashton Smith's Xiccarph cycle which centers around his planetary and system ruler  Maal Dweb is exactly the sort of wizard whose on the same scale as the wizards of Jack Vance's Dying Earth series of novels. Wizards of immense power ruling over star systems using super science & magick. The native humanoids have no idea of the power & breath of these beings mostly owe themselves to the knowledge & wisdom of these characters. This set up fits in entirely with the early creators of D&D's vision for the original game.

" The Dying Earth was featured in the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Advanced Player's Guide under Appendix N: Literature as one of the works that was read during the development of the game system.^[2] The designer, Gary Gygax, also credited the novel with being the inspiration for the magic system, which he called "Vancian.""

Maal Dweb is more then capable of rubbing shoulders with any of the wizards of Jack Vance's Dying Earth series especially Mazirian the Magician & Turjan the wizard


All of this relates back to the recent Kickstarter of  Dark Wizard Games: Double Mayhem Adventures  How? Because The Secret Machines of the Star Spawn adventure takes full advantage to many of the conceits of this style. The Star Spawn is nothing more then a powerful bully himself taking full advantage of the locals & using a vast array of super science & sorcery at his disposal. 
Maal Dweb is another of these anti heroes ruling "four diminutive moons" [because of their size or because each is "decrescent"?] — "the juice of a jungle plant [is] repugnant to all the fauna of Xiccarph" — chimera-skin used as leather — has reptiles, dragons, pterodactyls, chimeras, poisonous "winged vipers", ape-like creatures — three suns, all dawn in the east, set in west: the earliest sun is "gamboge-yellow", second is emerald, third is carmine" ("The Maze of Maal Dweb", Clark Ashton Smith)

We see the full scope of this anti hero in the two CAS stories and the sort of power he's fully used to wielding especially in Maze of Maal Dweb, The (1938) & his personality in the The Flower-Women,  (1935). 

These power mad bastards see nothing wrong with become invasive interstellar tyrants on a grand cosmic scale and causing all kinds of problems. There even seems to be a level to the heights of their power from local king then onto world conqueror followed by cosmic horror level.



Looking into the plot of Star Spawn the parallels become even more obvious;"
Locals have been hearing whispers of strange happenings around the Ancient Volcano. Rumors over the last few months of an unspeakable evil that has risen up inside. An evil that “fell from the stars.” They say there is something wicked and devilish going on inside. Highwaymen report of strange creatures, mechanical monsters, and "Little Green Men" that are roaming the land causing chaos and mayhem!

The locals are at their wits end. They put out a call for the bravest, the strongest, the smartest group of adventurers they could find... and unfortunately for them, your group has "answered the call." You and your stalwart band of adventurers know exactly what to do...  plunder the mountain for the treasure within! And maybe figure out what those pesky locals are bitching about!

Half of the adventure takes place in the Volcano Dungeon Lair and the other half on a huge, Futuristic Spaceship which the Star Spawn has had "parked" above the planet unknown to anyone for the last 1000 years! "
The events of Secret Machines of the Star Spawn have continued because of the adventure's cosmicism. That's right this little comedic science fantasy adventure has a good strain of cosmicism throughout.
"cosmicism (uncountable) The literary philosophy developed by the American writer H P Lovecraft, stating that there is no recognizable divine presence, such as God, in the universe, and that humans are particularly insignificant in the larger scheme of intergalactic existence." The vile villain anti heroes of these science fantasy romps share many of the qualities of the modern Cosmicism of the recent Rick & Morty television episodes. Rick Sanchez  might be in the same mad scientist/wizard's union as many of these folks mentioned in this blog post.


So what's going to make a difference to the events of a mad uncaring universe & its insane alien tyrant wizard scum? Well that's where your PC's come in, their the 'heroes', 'explorers' and exploiters who have chance to turn back the tide of weird tyrannical wizards. Dark Wizard games newest kickstarter is redefining the artwork within its adventures but its your PC's who are going to be kicking ass and taking names within these adventures.  What does all this mean? It comes down to a long tradition of wizards using a mix of mad science, magick, and any means necessary to keep down locals to give heroes excuses to kick ass and take names in Dungeons & Dragons games. 


Don't Forget To Support Dark Wizard Games Kickstarter
& Keep Those Dice Rolling


This blog entry is for educational and entertainment purposes only. This blog post is not an attempt to violate the copyright or trade marks of the 'Rick & Morty' television show nor are we responsible for the actions of Morty 6424 whose vile acts this blog can not condone nor the Rick belonging to that Morty. Further Dark Wizard Wizard Games is no way responsible for the insane content of this blog. All ideas & opinions are copyrighted to the writer.

Quick Commentary On Maximum Mayhem Dungeon #2: Secret Machines of the Star Spawn Second Printing By Mark Taormino For Your Old School Campaigns

So Mark Taormino has a second printing of his Secret Machines of the Star Spawn module which he posted on Facebook  According to Mark "A Second printing of my Secret Machines of the Star Spawn modules are ready for new homes! FYI these are now available for sale on my website http://www.maximummayhemdungeons.com/"


I've been in love with 'The Secret Machines Of The Star Spawn for a while now;simply put this is a great gonzo sci fi fantasy module originally for OSRIC but easily adapted into any old school edition or retroclone system with some modification.

The set up for this adventure goes something like this : 

Locals have been hearing whispers of strange happenings around the Ancient Volcano. Rumors over the last few months of an unspeakable evil that has risen up inside. An evil that “fell from the stars.” They say there is something wicked and devilish going on inside. Highwaymen report of strange creatures, mechanical monsters, and "Little Green Men" that are roaming the land causing chaos and mayhem!  Now before I start waxing lyrical but Secret Machines, this is an adult oriented module with uses several of the adult conventions of science fantasy. Alien abduction, alien cross species breeding, adult situations,etc.

It seems to me the more that I read of DCC, the more the gonzo and epic seem to collide in  within its pages add in some of the great material from Crawljammer and Crawling Under A Broken Moon  It seems to me that Mayhem Dungeon #2: Secret Machines of the Star Spawn By Mark Taormino is tailor made for taking your party of adventurers to the stars. Many of the themes and ideas explored in the module touch many of the aspects that I've seen in the various DCC zines. Though this module was meant for solid old school play  I can see it be easily adapted to a wide variety of OSR venues.
This is a great little module when you want to move your Advanced Dungeons & Dragons or  OSRIC game into space. A quick adventure if they survive and then toss those adventurers into the stars!

All together Maximum Mayhem Dungeon #2: Secret Machines of the Star Spawn is a great old school adventure package. It has lots of thrills, danger, and even a bit of horror thrown into the mix with just the right mix of gonzo humor. Congrats to Maximum Mayhem Dungeons on their continuing efforts in bring us the best in PC ripping awesomeness! 

Some Notes On Running Maximum Mayhem Dungeons #2 Secret Machines of the Star Spawn By Mark Taormino For Use With Your Old School Campaigns

Grab It HERE

Maximum Mayhem Dungeons #2 Secret Machines of the Star Spawn By Mark Taormino is one of those modules that takes several gonzo themes and then twists them into some dangerously brilliant for old school play. This is the type of adventure that you can take a party of adventurers from the depths of the plot and into the depths of space. It's just become available on Drivethrurpg and its got some solid material going for it. I've run this adventure as a mini campaign numerous times now and folks really seem to love it.


The plot line goes something alike this; "Locals have been hearing whispers of strange happenings around the Ancient Volcano. Rumors over the last few months of an unspeakable evil that has risen up inside. An evil that “fell from the stars.” They say there is something wicked and devilish going on inside. Highwaymen report of strange creatures, mechanical monsters, and "Little Green Men" that are roaming the land causing chaos and mayhem!



The townsfolk are at their wits end. They put out a call for the bravest, the strongest, the smartest group of adventurers they could find... and unfortunately for them, your group has "answered the call." You and your stalwart band of adventurers know exactly what to do...  plunder the mountain for the treasure within! And maybe figure out what those pesky locals are bitching about!"



So here are some notes that I've found when running this adventure, be sure to have a large party with several PC character sheets in reserve. Many of the encounters and treasures of limited use and may need to a adjusted for extended campaign play. The monsters and situations can quickly develop into their own mini encounters so leave yourself as the dungeon master enough time to do a 'continued next game' option.  There are more then a couple of things to remember when dealing with MMD#2, the game environment might seem pretty amusing and gonzo but there are several parts that can mess up a party very well. The presentation here is very old school and through it works on old school setting principles the focus here is a compete setting crawl through a pulpy science fantasy setting.

Another strength of the Secret Machines is the OSRIC gaming material's stat spread and encounter curve, the adventure puts the adventurers center stage for about 90% of the action and it means that while deaths will occur, the PC's here are the focus of all of the adventure events. This also makes the Secret Machines good value for the money because the internal system can easily be converted over to other retroclone gaming systems. This is especially useful for Lamentations of the Flame Princess or other pseudo historical settings. "This product uses the OSRIC™ System (Old-school System Reference and Index Compilation™). This module can be played with any fantasy role playing system you may want to use it with under the Open Gaming License v1.0a and can easily be adapted to most campaign settings as well." For that style of retro clone campaign I would suggest either the Russian interior or Romania around the early Fourteen to Fifteen Hundreds when UFO activity according to historical records was at an all time high.


Recently I've run Secret Machines of the Star Spawn with Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea & the adventure was a nice success. Several points can lead and dove tail into other Hyperborean adventure location hooks and threads including those featured in  Beneath the Comet and the  Forgotten Fane of the Coiled Goddess. This is a part of the strength of MMD#2 in that it plays very nicely with other OSR style adventures.Personally I would set the adventure toward one of the out lying Hyperborean country side locations allowing the party to blunder into the adventure's set up situation.

Several things I've recently done with Secret Machines is to dump the party off on Carcosa and also as a way of introducing several new monsters into campaigns of White Star. The game adventure has and does make an excellent adventure bridge point to play around with a campaigns setting once the

Reconsidering The Maximum Mayhem Dungeon #2: Secret Machines of the Star Spawn Adventure By Mark Taormino For Your Old School Campaigns

Sunday I spent with friends and went over the sword & sorcery options for the Fall and Mark Taormino's name came up. He's send out the last of  his backer copies of The Maximum Mayhem Dungeon #2: Secret Machines of the Star Spawn  when it comes to this module you've got to love the way it handles all of its old school gonzo sci fi and fantasy elements with gusto.  Straight up this isn't a module for the kiddies. This is an adult themed mini campaign adventure.


Mark goes over the basic plot of Secret Machines in his Kickstarter Video and it pretty much hits the high points in spades.  The adventure is made for the OSRIC system with lots of sword and sorcery opportunities coupled with a science fantasy back bone. The plot is something straight out of an old school early Eighties module.  Here's the basic plot outline from the module :
Locals have been hearing whispers of strange happenings around the Ancient Volcano. Rumors over the last few months of an unspeakable evil that has risen up inside. An evil that “fell from the stars.” They say there is something wicked and devilish going on inside. Highwaymen report of strange creatures, mechanical monsters, and "Little Green Men" that are roaming the land causing chaos and mayhem!

The locals are at their wits end. They put out a call for the bravest, the strongest, the smartest group of adventurers they could find... and unfortunately for them, your group has "answered the call." You and your stalwart band of adventurers know exactly what to do...  plunder the mountain for the treasure within! And maybe figure out what those pesky locals are bitching about!

Half of the adventure takes place in the Volcano Dungeon Lair and the other half on a huge, Futuristic Spaceship which the Star Spawn has had "parked" above the planet unknown to anyone for the last 1000 years! If we can hit enough stretch goals we'll "unlock" more encounters, dungeon levels and ship levels etc!
As I've said this adventure offers lots of fun and mayhem in a weird setting with lots of neat bits thrown into the mix. This is a very lethal adventure but there's a lot going right in this adventure. The plot will work with anything from a gonzo Lamentations of the Flame Princess rpg  game, to Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea, to a Goodman Games Dungeon Crawl Classics style mini campaign. But my question becomes why limit yourself to simply another set of standard fantasy and science fantasy tropes. Friends have suggested to take a science fiction or fantasy game such as White Star and bring your PC's in as agents so that a mixed game of adventurers will result.

But I'm looking into using this adventure as a bridge gap for a group of mid range PC's and I think this one is going to cut it. The elements here are weird enough to keep the players on their toes at the same time challenging them to really play with some of the elements. Believe it or not there are some highly challenging and dangerous obstacles in the mix in Secret Machines.

This adventure has everything from dungeon crawling to sheer nastiness in the form of some of the technologies and artifacts that will be encountered in this adventure but the DM really has the final say so on how and where the elements of the Secret Machines of the Star Spawn appear in their campaigns. But could this adventure fit into a world such as Lamentations of the Flame Princess or even Hyperborea? Well many of the gonzo and weird elements have been made to be self contained within the adventure settings of the Star Spawn adventure location. They will and do function within their own internal logical. This is in my book an other plus in the favor of the adventure itself. Mark is an excellent author and this adventure is a complete departure then say the Hanging Coffins of the Vampire Queen. But this is one of Mark's best efforts in my humble opinion and its a strictly a plug and play adventure. Plug it in where and when you want it in your campaign world. My advice is to grab this one and start getting in on the Star Spawns nefarious machinations before it gets your PC's! 

 

Commentary Maximum Mayhem Dungeon #2: Secret Machines of the Star Spawn By Mark Taormino For Your Old School Campaigns

I've been in love with 'The Secret Machines Of The Star Spawn for a while now;simply put this is a great gonzo sci fi fantasy module originally for OSRIC but easily adapted into any old school edition or retroclone system with some modification.

The set up for this adventure goes something like this : 

Locals have been hearing whispers of strange happenings around the Ancient Volcano. Rumors over the last few months of an unspeakable evil that has risen up inside. An evil that “fell from the stars.” They say there is something wicked and devilish going on inside. Highwaymen report of strange creatures, mechanical monsters, and "Little Green Men" that are roaming the land causing chaos and mayhem!  Now before I start waxing lyrical but Secret Machines, this is an adult oriented module with uses several of the adult conventions of science fantasy. Alien abduction, alien cross species breeding, adult situations,etc.

So Mayhem Dungeon #2: Secret Machines of the Star Spawn By Mark Taormino was part of a successful Kickstarter that got many of the best elements of the adventure unlocked, some really nice gonzo sci fi artwork, and some really nice maps put into the module.
If you missed this Kickstarter you can still find out more info on how to order this product and others from their website at www.maximummayhemdungeons.com
This brings me to center of my dilemma? So for the past two weeks, after the other half got me a copy of Dungeon Crawl Classics I've been going slowly over the game after a baptism by fire campaign with the Islands in The Stream run through of the DCC system. But this really has me thinking about Maximum Mayhem Dungeon #2 Secret Machines Of The Star Spawn. 

   It seems to me the more that I read of DCC, the more the gonzo and epic seem to collide in  within its pages add in some of the great material from Crawljammer and Crawling Under A Broken Moon  It seems to me that Mayhem Dungeon #2: Secret Machines of the Star Spawn By Mark Taormino is tailor made for taking your party of adventurers to the stars. Many of the themes and ideas explored in the module touch many of the aspects that I've seen in the various DCC zines. Though this module was meant for solid old school play  I can see it be easily adapted to a wide variety of OSR venues.


 What Maximum Mayhem Dungeon #2: Secret Machines of the Star Spawn does and does very well is to take the conventions of D&D and use those to turn the game right over into the alien  gonzo zone but that's not a bad thing. This is also dependent upon two things, one if the PC's survive and two if they can deal with some of the deadly natures of the encounters in Maximum Mayhem Dungeon #2: Secret Machines of the Star Spawn. There is balance to them but Mark imparts a real sense of fun about the module. But for DCC there's more then simply a tie in as well. The space craft of the Star Spawn & his cohorts in orbit above your campaign world for several thousand years could in point of fact be your PC's funnel as their village or settlement is attacked by the Star Spawns minions. This give both a reason for the party to be together and the sense of burning anger in your PC's hearts.

This is right from the Kickstarter, "Futuristic Spaceship which the Star Spawn has had "parked" above the planet unknown to anyone for the last 1000 years!"
This allows a DM to give your party a solid reason for being together on a local level while having the perfect excuse for introducing interstellar elements into a campaign world. Expanding upon those elements or making this a one shot adventure; are really going to be up to the Dungeon Master and their own approach to the material in Secret Machines.


Gonzo or not many of these elements defy and crossover into the region of science fantasy whist switching gears into the sword and sorcery mode and  genre of AD&D and its ilk. There are a few options available in Secret Machines of the Star Spawn and hooks available to expand or contract the action as you see fit to take the campaign in a different direction. I do think that Secret Machines is a viable option to allow a DM to take their DCC campaign to the stars, having your party of adventurers surviving to get there is another matter entirely.

Unpacking The Maximum Mayhem Dungeon #2: Secret Machines of the Star Spawn Adventure By Mark Taormino

Mark Tarmino knows how to pack a class A module & get it safely across country! My copy of The Maximum Mayhem Dungeon #2: Secret Machines of the Star Spawn adventure arrived safely and soundly without bends, breaks, or problems plus some extras that the author included!
What can I say, I couldn't be more pleased with the module. The art work kisses all of the right old school buttons and gonzo adult fun I was expecting for me.

The plot will work with anything from a gonzo Lamentations of the Flame Princess rpg  game, to Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea, to a Goodman Games Dungeon Crawl Classics style mini campaign. But my question becomes why limit yourself to simply another set of standard fantasy and science fantasy tropes. Friends have suggested to take a science fiction or fantasy game such as White Star and bring your PC's in as agents so that a mixed game of adventurers will result.

 The packing was well done and I wasn't expecting the extras that were packed into the envelops and the first thing that I saw brought a smile to my face. The three dee glasses were a nice touch.

 Half of the adventure takes place in the Volcano Dungeon Lair and the other half on a huge, Futuristic Spaceship which the Star Spawn has had "parked" above the planet unknown to anyone for the last 1000 years! That basically means that a DM could back draft the science fantasy action right into the back end of their own campaigns if they wanted to.

 And zing what's the first thing that pops up from the envelop? A drone that looks like it roared straight out of a certain American classic horror franchise of epic proportions! The Ball is back alright not really but I'm a die hard Phan of the Phantasm films!

 Speeder bike racing straight out of the Emp errmm adventure! With the roars of the alien crowd in the background! Love the art on these!

 Chocolate Thunder and her barbarian pal sticking it to the alien Star Spawn! And the quality of the module is top notch in my humble opinion! I'm I pleased? Hell yes I'm pleased as punch! I did a review of adventure right over Here 

  The Maximum Mayhem Dungeon #2: Secret Machines of the Star Spawn adventure never takes itself too seriously but that doesn't mean that its any less deadly to your party. There's lots of back written pulpy action with rayguns, alien menace lurking around every corner, lots of treasure some it down right deadly. The setting is flexible, fast, and well thought out with plenty of room for DYI antics. 

 The colors on the artwork pops and shines through and I couldn't be happier!  The bulk of the action is one part adventure, one part dungeon crawl, and lots of thinking on the party's part or they will die badly. Mark has a style all of his own when it comes to these adventures the same as Venger Satanis, or any other old school author or designer. Something that develops from a certain DM mind set that reels back in the years.

 Reading and thumbing through Secret Machines of the Star Spawn I'm reminded in part of the classic series of modules where the party is put into situations of adventure they'll have to deal with because the adventure setting event was already in motion when your party stumbled upon it. This makes dealing with the mid tier bosses in the adventure both challenging and very dangerous.

 There is a sense of depth to the fun in Secret Machines that makes survival both a target and a part of reeling in the adventurers into several of the subplots flowing through the adventure. Much of this style of play hearkens back to the Gamma World classic adventure Legion of Gold where the trail of bread crumbs leads into several smaller side adventures within the context of the great whole. A style I happen to be quite fond of. My final opinion is man I'm so glad I got this and can't wait to unleash it on my players in the Winter!

I strongly recommend that you pick this module up when it becomes available to the public, the pdf is right now available on Drivethrurpg, note that certain themes in
The Maximum Mayhem Dungeon #2: Secret Machines of the Star Spawn of an adult nature and that this isn't really work or kid safe. Fun yes but not safe for the kids.  But perfect for an old school group of players who want some solid play time in the dungeons of the Star Spawn!

Meditations On The Maximum Mayhem Dungeon #2: Secret Machines of the Star Spawn Adventure By Mark Taormino

Tonight I got together with friends and went to a nice quiet establishment for a drink and to play catch up with other friends gaming habits tonight.  The talk turned to the OSR as its prone to do when old school gamers get together for dinner. Mark Taormino was the topic of conversation especially The Maximum Mayhem Dungeon #2: Secret Machines of the Star Spawn adventure.

Tonight I got together to talk, design, and chew the fat about gaming as I do some Saturday nights. This evening Mark Taormino's name came up and his module Secret Machines Of The Star Spawn. Mark had a pretty successful Kickstarter earlier this year with Machines and the backer copies of the module are going out. The plot was fun and it hits all of my old school gonzo buttons with its plot, I've run Secret Machines twice and its a blast. The adventure's plot goes something like this :
Locals have been hearing whispers of strange happenings around the Ancient Volcano. Rumors over the last few months of an unspeakable evil that has risen up inside. An evil that “fell from the stars.” They say there is something wicked and devilish going on inside. Highwaymen report of strange creatures, mechanical monsters, and "Little Green Men" that are roaming the land causing chaos and mayhem!

The locals are at their wits end. They put out a call for the bravest, the strongest, the smartest group of adventurers they could find... and unfortunately for them, your group has "answered the call." You and your stalwart band of adventurers know exactly what to do...  plunder the mountain for the treasure within! And maybe figure out what those pesky locals are bitching about!


Half of the adventure takes place in the Volcano Dungeon Lair and the other half on a huge, Futuristic Spaceship which the Star Spawn has had "parked" above the planet unknown to anyone for the last 1000 years!
I did a review of adventure right over Here  Because of the nature of the module the gonzo action is fast and furious with plenty of pulpy science fantasy and ray gun blasting action taking place throughout the module.
There are plenty of weird and dangerous monsters, alien life forms, and a ton of stuff happening. You got ray gun blasting action, a mix of elements of fantasy, science fiction, dashes of Lovecraft, rude bits of fun and high weirdness.


So Mark has shipped out the backer copies and friends of mine will be receiving theirs. Now a couple of thoughts occur to me regarding Secret Machines. The White Star rpg science fantasy system might make a perfect cross over point with Secret Machines with Swords and Wizardry. Granted that this module is designed for OSRIC and AD&D 1st edition style games or retroclone systems but porting it over might be a snap. It was pointed out that many of the elements of this adventure even though gonzo adult in nature cross over with lots of retroclone systems and that this module makes a nice spring board for taking your D&D parties into SPPPPPPAAACE. The fact is that this isn't a new tactic at all and when we're looking at everything from Retroclone systems to original may of the themes in Secret Machines crosses right over into the realm of science fantasy in spades. I can see using Secret Machines again for this coming winter with everything from OSRIC to Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea to Lamentations of the Flame Princess. Especially given some of the tongue and cheek elements of Carcosa and other LoFP titles. Before you ask I'm not entirely sure when Secret Machines of the Star Spawn's pdf will be hitting Drivethrurpg.  A safe guess might be after all of the backers get their physical copies. I can't wait to see what else Mark has up his sleeves in the coming months.

Review and Commentary On Maximum Mayhem Dungeon #2: Secret Machines of the Star Spawn By Mark Taormino For Your Old School Campaigns

Maximum Mayhem Dungeon #2: Secret Machines of the Star Spawn By Mark Taormino just completed a successful run of a Kickstarter this morning. I've been following the progress of this module quite closely and could not wait to get my hands on this module. First things first, don't buy this module if you take your gaming too seriously. Because this is a module that is written for a DM and players who are looking for a good time in a science fantasy adventure with some very interesting damn dangerous challenges for their PC's. Make no mistake this adventure is clever and quite deadly and loaded with homages to 80's horror movies, science fiction films, and lots of ass kicking fun. I received my review copy along with the backers and so this copy of the adventure is in the raw, there's mistakes, errors,etc. which will be edited out within the final PDF that hits Drivethrurpg. The pdf clocks in at forty pages of packed adventure with a separate four page map booklet with maps and cartography by Alyssa Faden. 

There is a lot going in fory pages of module, the encounters here are tight and downright demented. Seriously the author has an open ended and yet event laden approach that takes a party through the adventure logically but open ended. But what's really happening? 

If you missed this Kickstarter you can still find out more info on how to order this product and others from our website at www.maximummayhemdungeons.com

The set up for this adventure goes something like this : 

Locals have been hearing whispers of strange happenings around the Ancient Volcano. Rumors over the last few months of an unspeakable evil that has risen up inside. An evil that “fell from the stars.” They say there is something wicked and devilish going on inside. Highwaymen report of strange creatures, mechanical monsters, and "Little Green Men" that are roaming the land causing chaos and mayhem! 

The locals are at their wits end. They put out a call for the bravest, the strongest, the smartest group of adventurers they could find... and unfortunately for them, your group has "answered the call." You and your stalwart band of adventurers know exactly what to do...  plunder the mountain for the treasure within! And maybe figure out what those pesky locals are bitching about!

Half of the adventure takes place in the Volcano Dungeon Lair and the other half on a huge, Futuristic Spaceship which the Star Spawn has had "parked" above the planet unknown to anyone for the last 1000 years!

And I'm happy to report that it does exactly what it says on the cover and then some. There are plenty of weird and dangerous monsters, alien life forms, and a ton of stuff happening. You got ray gun blasting action, a mix of elements of fantasy, science fiction, dashes of Lovecraft, rude bits of fun and high weirdness. And its all laid out in such a way that this adventure will fit right into your favorite retroclone system. In fact the Secret Machines is designed to work with your favorite retroclone system. According to the Kickstarter: 

This module can be played with the OSRIC(tm) system or easily adapted to Pathfinder, D20 System, Labyrinth Lord, BFRPG, Swords & Wizardry, Warrior & Wizards, etc or any fantasy role playing system you may want to use it with under the Open Gaming License v1.0a!

Because this adventure is designed in such an almost system neutral fashion, I personally think that with a little bit of conversion this module would make an excellent cross over point with the White Star rpg system and Swords and Wizardry. 

But I can also see this module working very easily with Dungeon Crawl Classics or for that matter with some adjustment Lamentations of the Flame Princess or the Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea. But due to the science fantasy elements of The Secret Machines of The Star Spawn this may be more of making adjustments for the relics and technologies found in the module. There are some nifty treasures and relics in the encounters that really bring the science fiction elements to life.
But is it good? I do believe with the right group that this is a perfect balance between Barrier Peaks style weirdness and a solid adventure grounded in pulp with lots of weirdness happening with its pages.
There are some very mature elements in this module so it might not be for the kiddies. Seriously there is some really deranged stuff happening in this one.



 There are six new pre-generated characters but given the nature and tightness of some of the encounters in this adventure after looking em over, I'd use these guys as hirelings for the party or as NPC adventurers who have preceeded the current party of adventurers. 
So bottomline do I think that this is a module worth your attention? Yes I believe so if your looking for a tight, well written, dangerous and completely deranged science fantasy adventure! There's lots here to recommend this one. And once the Maximum Mayhem Dungeon #2: Secret Machines of the Star Spawn By Mark Taormino hits the stands its going to bring some amazing elements of weird science fantasy to your tables. 

And don't forget that  Maximum Mayhem Dungeons has another Kickstarter happening right now, go and check it out you won't be sorry. Right over Here