HBO's West World Television Show - Sin, Synthetics, and Six Guns

'Boy Have We Got a Vacation For You' read the original poster for West World back in '73. I had heard they were releasing a remake of the movie as a television series.



So back in August of 2015 the first teasers for HBO's West World remake series broke based on the original Michael Criterion movie from 1973. I'm huge fan of the West World movies because it was the source of the crossover adventures for Gamma World 1st edition/ Metamorphosis Alpha & Boot Hill.The new one looks most compelling and interesting to say the least. It takes many of the original ideas and themes notches them up to eleven.

Now today the second teaser trailer broke today and it was even better.The themes are expanded upon and we get a bit of the philosophy behind the action. We get a healthy dose of Nihilism of the original movie which is intact and in charge here along with lots of sex, violence, and more. Basically West World has always taken the Hollywood and classic shtick of the Old Western movie and used it too make social commentary with androids. Its connections with rpgs are long and somewhat interesting. The original film stars Yul Brynner as an android in a futuristic Western-themed amusement park, and Richard Benjamin and James Brolin as guests of the park.

Going all of the way back to the original Boot Hill Rpg, I've known DM's to mix and match West World's themes and elements into the mix of various games. The idea that the 'Ancients' had parks where the rich would come to indulge in all manner of decadent pleasure debauchery is at the heart and soul of West World's story. Roman World a sort of sword and sandal theme park version of ancient Pompeii is in there tucked into the background. Then there's Medieval World, which is based on daily life in medieval Europe and one of the primary places where android wizards and like into our Gamma World games. Finally there was the iconic West World with Yul Brynner's gun fighter model of android  popping up numerous times over the years and the dangerous Black Knight model  from Medieval World appearing in various Metamorphosis Alpha/OD&D crossovers. 


We got Future World in Seventy Five as a sort of direct squeal to West World expanding the Disney like park theme with androids with more attractions, expanded settings, and a plot of world domination by Delos. Wiki has a good break down; 
"Futureworld is a 1976 American science fiction thriller film directed by Richard T. Heffron and written by Mayo Simon and George Schenck. It is a sequel to the 1973 Michael Crichton film Westworld. The sequel stars Peter Fonda, Blythe Danner, Arthur Hill, Stuart Margolin, John Ryan, and Yul Brynner, who makes a cameo appearance in a dream sequence. Other than Brynner, none of the cast members from the original film appear, and original writer-director Crichton was not involved"

Basically world leaders were going to be replace by androids and they'd try to take over the world. We took the basic premise in one of my groups back in the early Eighties added in the Gamma World timeline and used the whole thing for TSR's Top Secret.

The end of the line came when Beyond West World hit the small screen in 1980, it was another of those attempts to bring science fiction into the era when the audience wasn't ready for it. The show really was ahead of its time in both make up and execution. Here's the problem the show couldn't make up its mind if it wanted to be a spy show or a science fiction drama. It was a show that had lots of potential but wasn't given a chance to be brought into its own:"

It featured Jim McMullan as Security Chief John Moore of the Delos Corporation. The story revolved around John Moore having to stop the evil scientist, Quaid, as he planned to use the robots in Delos to try to take over the world. Despite being nominated for two Emmys (Outstanding Achievement In Makeup, and Outstanding Art Direction For A Series), only five episodes were produced, and only three of them were aired before cancellation"

The show did create a perfect nemesis that has over the years appeared over & over again in the form of Delos the rival android manufacturing corporation to the Weyland-Yutani mega corporation. But with West World it always comes back to Boot Hill its where I began with the game and where it ends for me.


So now its going to be a game of let's see how this new show plays out and will it have the ratings to get into Roman World and  Medieval World for its second & third seasons respective? Will there be a surge in the number of DM's using the various settings of West World  that we've seen in the past?

New Magic Items For The Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers Of The Hyperborea Rpg System The Atlantian Electrical Caster & The Lesser Atlantian Suit Of Underwater Survival For Your Old School Campaigns

 The  Atlantian Electrical Caster is a product of Atlantian super science these items are often found within Atlantian colonies, former military bases, and ruins. These sealed air powdered rifles can be used above or below water. They have a range of 100 feet and shoot a small sealed steel covered projectile which is etched with potent runes for a miniature lightning bolt. The target will be struck for 1d6+6 points of electrical damage per shot with no saving throw allowed, these weapons have an eight shot capacity. They are powered by high pressure air reserves and are often found with a techno magically powered high pressure pump that can recharge the special air bladder of the caster.
The Atlantian electrical caster can be recharged from a nipple found upon the Lesser Atlantian Suit Of Underwater Survival. The Lesser Atlantian Suit Of Underwater Survival is a minor marvel of Atlantian super science and magic. The skin tight suit is air and water tight allowing its owner to survive the frigid gulf of the Outer Darkness or the waters of Hyperborea down to a 1000 feet. The suit mystically provides the owner with air for up to eight hours and recharge its air supply at a rate of one hour of non use.
The owner also has a heavy helm that allows 360' radius of vision, mystic radium light source up to 100 feet, and a set of shoes that will allow the owner to stay underwater sunk unless the command word is thought. These shoes may become magically magnetic when a command word is thought or cease to be with another such word is thought. These words are written upon the underside of the suit's air generators.
These suits are worth up to a thousand gold pieces alone but fifteen hundred if found with the caster. There is a 10% chance that one or more of these items may be damaged when found and only a temple of the Atlantian gods may be able to effect repairs upon them for a small fortune. 

Review and Commentary On The Free Player's Primer of Ark For Your Old School Campaigns

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Need some new old school races for your OSRIC or Advanced Dungeons And Dragons campaign on the fly? Need the sort of help that will give you complete race to drop into your campaign with a real solid back ground and you want it for free? We've got you covered with the Player's Primer of Ark which gives a nice overview for players of your favorite AD&D first edition game or your favorite retroclone. This book is obviliously a labor of love on the Ravenlore folks and clocking in at sixty seven pages this is a nice little book to grab for free. The world's races are richly detailed and given a nice treatment and dropped right into the DM's hands with some campaign details for the world of Ark as well. 

There's lots going under the covers of the book and I'd love to have a dead tree version of this campaign. The background and detail are well done and pretty well written. 

We don't even get a sense of  the scope of this campaign from the Drive thru Rpg Site Blurb :

From the forbidden and deadly Savage Shores of the Rhul to the cold steppe of the Khrun and from the Faerie Realms of Alvheim to the dark and mystical lands of Sorcere...Ark is filled with dozens of races. In this book you will be able to explore a full score of them, from the human Amarians to the beastly Minotaurs, these are only the beginning of the legendary races of Ark!

Also in this book you will find a synopsis of the Recent History of Ark, the Monetary System used in most of Ark, as well as an equipment list that goes with that system of coinage based on Silver instead of Gold. Everything you need to begin your ADND Adventures in the World of Ark.

Using The Player's Primer of Ark From Raven lore Press

For Your Old School Campaigns  

The way that the World Of Ark Player's Primer is presented makes it very easy to plug and play these races into Osric or any old school AD&D first edition game setting. They're well done and interesting with a bit of work some of these might even be used in a science fantasy setting as well. But that might simply be my preferences here talking. There are several nice options for using these race in a wide variety of campaigns. The options on the table that the author presents makes these a real no brainer for injecting something rather unique into your campaigns. The solid way that these are written enables them to come across in a concise and easily  presented in your old school campaign. All in all this was a nice addition to any old school DM's arsenal of playable races and an interesting addition to the usual 'products of your imagination' on the market today.
There needs to be more worlds like Ark on the market today and this is clearly a well done world book with some great races suitable for play in any old school 1st edition AD&D or OSRIC campaigns. With a bit of work these could very well work in any old school retroclone environment. 

Another Free OSR Resource - Dragon's Foot Issue 21 For Your Old School Campaigns

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Well it looks like another issue of Dragon's Foot  OSR magazine is out! This issue has some really nice articles! 

A quick look over of the material sees some really nice articles, an adventure, new spells, and much more.
Grab it fast and get cracking. 

Here's what's in this issue:
New Character Races (article)
Combined Combat Chart (article)
How Much Experience Did We Get For That Dragon? (article)
Magical Miscellanea (magical items)
Glarck's Remote Spell Books (article)
Ride the Lightning! (MU spells)
Monsters of All Sizes (article)
The Wizard's Laboratory (article)
The Conjurer (new class)
The Lake Of Sorrows (adventure)

I'm off to game now but I'll have a review coming up of this issue but I thought I'd just quickly share. Cheers. 

Free OSR Adventure and Resource - From The Makers "&" magazine Comes 'Rage From The Waves' For Your Old School Campaigns.

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Rage From The Waves is a huge forty page free adventure that packs a lot of old school punch into a solid free download that can be used for a variety of old school styles. The adventure is oriented for either OSRIC or AD&D first edition but with a bit of work it can be adapted to any number of styles.
The Blurb from the '&' site basically give a pretty good plot overview without really spilling the beans on the adventure: 

Lost ships. Missing crews. Disappearing cargo. The King is not pleased, and it’s your job to find out what happened and bring a stop to it! To do so you’ll have to unravel a mystery that’s stumped the king’s advisers.

Clues? one ship that made it back with a stabbing spear of unusual design and some odd blood on the deck.

Four to eight characters of 4th to 7th level will figure out the mystery. The adventure includes two completely detailed businesses, a full set of deck plans for a carrack, a second set of partial plans providing design variations, and an island with room for additional adventuring if you so desire. Add to this over 80 fully documented characters for use in this and other adventures, including several ship’s crews, and you have an adventure that is also a resource.
Basically this is an OSR resource wrapped around an old school adventure with lots going on. There are a few reasons to look into this style of adventure: 

• This is a solid waterborne adventure with some really nice nautical action. 
• There lots going on for PC's to deal with and the resource persented in the adventure can be adapted into a number of old school campaigns. In fact I would say to use those resources in other game adventures so that PC's become familiar with them. This way the events of Rage foreshadow what is to come their by getting the PC's more involved. 
• There are a boat load of NPC's that can fill an entire campaign world all by themselves. Many of these can and do have reasons to hook the PC's into other parts of your adventures. 
• The nautical businesses have lots of potential for use in other adventures all by themselves and with little to no work can spawn several spin off adventures and lines into other areas of old school campaigns. 
• This is an adventure with the potential for months of play and lots of high AD&D style weirdness. 
• This is a very well written adventure, concise in its details but with lots of customization by the DM to really fill in some of the finer points of this adventure by making it a part of their world. 
• With all of this acreage of supplemental material in the background there's lots of room for extra play and with a bit of work there are several plot points to spin off all on their own. This enables a DM to have plenty of room for more campaign expansion while putting their own spin on the material from 'Rage'. 
• The old school curve here for level and hands on action is solid so be advised the writers and designers mean the material presented here is old school. There are several key points where PC's could die rather messily. 
• Given the chance there are several other '&' resources that could be slotted into the background of 'Rage' to make a mega campaign lasting months of air play. Did I mention that this was a free resource?
  All in all Rage From The Waves is a very well done and solid old school adventure with lots of action happening within its pages. DM's who use a bit of caution, pay attention to the encounters, and play this one right could get months of old school action with their players. A very well done adventure with lots of potential and high weirdness. 

Free OSR Resource - "&" magazine issue #9 For your Old School Campaigns

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Click on the magazine cover to down load.

The latest issue of "&" magazine is out and its a great one. This issue covers spells, spell casters, wizards, Greater Fae, magic shops, old school adventures, magic items and more. The issue is pretty jammed with AD&D style first edition inspired goodness and can be used for OSRIC as well as about 90% of the retroclones with some modification that are currently on the market.
There's also an interview with Ernie Gygax and more! Check it out, download it, get a bit more for your magick in your games! 

Retrofuture Inspiration Artwork From Japan For Your Old School Space And Post Apocalyptic Campaign

I was doing a bit of research for an upcoming campaign and stumbled upon this great set of Japanese retro future artwork from the 1930's through 1960's. These are great inspiration from a series of articles from Avi Abrams from the Dark Roasted Blend Site. These would work great for an old school  science fiction, post apocalyptic, or science fantasy campaign.
The article and artwork is available right over HERE

Nothing like  fire fighting robot/mecha for a  post apocalyptic game.



Nothing like a space rescue to add a bit of spice to a space based game. Weird cutting airlock tool from this space pod from a search and rescue organization. Also perfect for your space pirate gang as well. 

Spider based robotic alien colony ships from a piece of Japanese model art. I've used these things a few times in games and they intimate the hell out of players.


Science Fiction magazine covers were some extreme machines with some awesome transport and missile combat robotoid mecha. 


Deep Earth or Mining vessels from a Journey To The Center Of The Earth, these craft are really useful as relics for post apocalyptic game. They seem to enable PC's to get into lots of inner Earth trouble. I love the look of the legs on this craft. 

A bit of deep sea fishing,mining, and scavenging can be used as part of a space based game or as a post apocalyptic gaming. This craft is perfect for a coast tribe of mutant scavengers or some other under water salvage adventurers. It's oblivious a group with resources that has access to technological maintenance.



I've used mini planes as set pieces for action when managing space ports and other giant space space craft. One man planes are great for space games. They're easy to manufacture in a future setting, simple to store, and run on electrical power. Add in solar power for that eco friendly angle.
Street Level space ports and urban environments are often over looked in space games. This 1960s style article really has a 'George Jetson' retro future vibe going on. There are lots of details going in this piece of artwork and it would really give a DM plenty of room to expand this piece into a who encounter or adventure by itself.


Continuing the Jetson vibe here we've got an apartment that could be used as the basis for a bit of post apocalyptic fodder or an encounter for a computer interface in a space opera campaign.


We end with a venerable piece of artwork of a great combat space tank from the venerable artist 
  Shigeru Komatsuzaki 

The Legacy OF Hyde -Dr. Jekyll And Mr.Hyde John Barrymore 1920 For Your Old School Horror Campaign On The Dark Corner Blog

What secrets does Dr. Jekyll and Edward Hyde have? Down the potion and see what secrets are in store for you at The Dark Corner Blog Right HERE

The Forbidden Rites of Robotic Soul Transference For Your Old School Game!

The Forbidden Rites of  Robotic Soul Transference

Spell Level: 6th 

Range:120' 

Duration : Permanent Until Reversed
 This spell/rite requires the caster to gather & create the vast alchemical machinery that it needs to transfer & copy the delicate soul essences of  subject into a robotic body. 

This spell is an inversion of the natural process of  a soul being born into a body. The machine required is at least 20,000 gold pieces & requires a working knowledge of both alchemy & the black arts of the 5th level. The spell will need an unconscious victim upon whose soul engrams the machine is to be copied. 

The victim is placed within a specially prepared chamber & wired into the machinery. This machinery will require 1d20 months of work to complete.

The body is placed with & the entire process takes about 4 hours. Within that time every fiber of the victims being is sifted & copied into a willing shell. Then the entire creature becomes an inversion of the original. 

The robotic body must be prepared ahead of time. These bodies each cost 9,000 gold pieces each & require the most delicate of  forbidden alchemy rites to prepare the vessel. This will take 1d6 months including the blank humanistic seeming mind.

Two specially prepared inverted Stars must be made on the areas where the transfer will take place. These will be made from a silver/copper alloy. These alloys only cost a mere 50 gold pieces but the preparation will take 1d6 days under the full moon.
The planar/ electro energies released during the casting can cause horrific wounds

They do 1d8 points of damage to any unprotected flesh.
Those wounds can only be healed by super science or spells.
 During no time must the process be halted! The entire spell must not stop or the process will have to begin again in 1d4 days after delicate adjustments  must be made to the machinery & all preparations begun again.
 A perfect duplicate of the subject will be made without the moral compass of the original! Perfect in every way with an alignment of Chaotic! A demonic essence will animate the android which will act as an agent for the wizard who created it
 

A variation of this spell will summon a vicious demonic planar entity from beyond. This animating spirit will be tied to a robotic body & act as an 4th level assassin serving its master without fail.

The essence is a tortured thing however & may turn on its programming if a body is destroyed. A successful Charisma & role playing session may convince the monster to switch to a lawful alignment. The creature will be reduced down to a 2nd level assassin however.
 The creation of these bodies is only 200 gold pieces each & requires the plans to be followed in The Manual of Robotic Construction Disk 1. Five bodies may be constructed.  The manual will add +2 in the construction & all robotic repair rolls required for each one.
 Each time a body is destroyed the essence will flee it but will feel & remember the pain of its death. These memories will haunt the creature allowing the wizard to more easily control the monster. The wizard may at any time see, hear, or experience anything the assassin does.
These are sad & miserable monsters who add to the legends that robots are indestructible monsters from beyond.  

'Pretty Boys' An Illicit Substance & Monster Encounter for Your Old School Space Opera

'Pretty Boys' are a  fungus found on the temperate world of Donivons out on the galactic pan handle. This world is known for the exotic fungus it produces. This one grows on the dead brains of the animal life of the planet.
The cycle is short only 1 week of subject game time. The stuff sprouts from the head of the dead bringing with it bits of skull & decay. The structure of the fungus terribly resembles a humanoid brain as well. The stuff must be injected into the upper nostrils of the user where it seeps into the brain like a living thing.  Those who take the stuff are overwhelmed by memories of other races, places, & times. The physical appearance of the user changes slightly as skin pigmentation, eye coloring, & even vestal antenna are known to sprout from the user's forehead. Users are subject to berserk under its influence for 1d3 turns & then fall into a euphoric trance .
 Users increase Constitution, Stamina, & Strength by 1d3 points & for a time they are able to breath in toxic atmospheres. There are reports from those who use this substance that there is an increase in sexual prowess as well. Those offspring born of such unions resemble neither parent & are often sold to mining concerns as labors & slaves. They breath much easier within the toxic atmospheres of planets like Dephi 3, Alpha 6, etc.  Make a constitution check to breath within such places after 1d3 turns the body adapts! They make excellent  pit fighters
 Amazingly at the end of the lives of these offspring a colony of this fungus will sprout from the head & bloom again.
20 credits for 6 uses of the drug but this drug is only available out on the galactic pan handle.

Ten More Random Lovecraftian Space Finds For Your Old School Space Opera Game

Ten More  Random Lovecraftian Space Finds Roll 1d10 

1. The 3 mile long corpse of an Outer God that some insane alien intergalactic pirates have been using as a ship. Very badly scarred & burned out. 300 credits for disposal. 
2. 5 Green Fish Lizard Attack Beasts  In Sleeper Pods -3 hit points each. 200 credits 
3. Leaking Toxic Time Drives - 4 Bolted Together Golden Objects - Lost 1d20 days randomly ~ 400 credits. 
4. One Wrecked Lightning Gun - 20 credits 
5. A small mummified skeleton with a strange half frozen wand ~ 80 credits to the right buyer 
6. A 200 ton block of  frozen carbonite ~ A Star Spawn Of Cthulhu locked inside - Very pissed off~ Weapon of Mass Destruction. 2000 credits with a Wizard lock spell cast on it 
7. 20 copper tubes ~12 inches long, locked.~Each casts a magic missile spell which causes an additional decay effect each time it hits a target. 100 credits each 
8. Strange Misfiring Teleporter, Biological in nature ~ teleports everything within a 40' radius to a destination they never return from. The Elder Things are looking for it. 200 credits 
9. 12' iron ring casts a Domination spell on those within 20' of it. +2 to all mind control spells & powers. It whispers your friends darkest secrets at night. Men of Leng agents are searching for this item. 50 credits 
10. 12 brain cylinders belonging to famous figures from galactic politics. They continually argue amongest themselves. There is no one looking for these not even the Mi Go. They may be tortured into revealing military secrets though. 200 credits or more to the right buyer. 
    

The Cycle of The Vampire Plagues Through The 21 & 22 Century & Beyond. A Group Of Vampirical Options

The Cycle of The Vampire Plagues Through The 21 & 22 Century & Beyond

Historians will look back on the 21 & 22 centuries with a sigh of relief after the dark plagues of the undead came from the stars. The horrors of those years can only be exceeded by the return of this plague from the stars!
The most well known outbreak occurred in 1965 around the world. 1/2 half  of the world's population was killed. The pioneering work of Dr.  Robert Neville is well known to readers of this periodical. 

There were a number of other outbreaks across the world but never ones so devastating that it has left a hole within the collective souls of mankind.
 The next outbreak happened with the infamous Churchill mission  to the Tail of  Halley's Comet in 1985.  The result of that being almost a total devastation of the world's capitals during that time.
 There has been many  ground breaking missions since then. We now deal with these monsters with stakes & hand flamers. Mankind still teeters on the edge of the abyss of it all.
The vampire plague begins as an air borne infection but as the disease progresses the true horrifying nature of it reveals itself. The disease is spread by a specially bread bacteria that uses cells as shelves for the actual undead soul rot that is the true vampiric nature of the condition.





The cosmic vampire will after 1d100 or 1d1000 years change from a "normal vampire" to a form of specter with the level draining abilities of a vampire. As time goes on the creature will gain 1d3 traits from the table below. Vampires & specters  can be found in the Swords & Wizardry Rule Book or Labyrinth Lord rule book.
Random Weird Vampiric Essence Traits Table 1d10 

1. The Vampire may assume a 'cosmic' form for 2 rounds during which time he may only be attacked with +2 or better weapons 
2. The vampire has access to the memories & experiences of 'Those Who Came Before' Gain +1 or +2 Intelligence & Wisdom 
3. 'The Power is Too Much' The skin rots from the body of the vampire in 1d6 months 
4. 'I have Complete Control' The vampire heals within moments. Regains 2 hit points per round 
5. 'The Alien Way' the vampire gains 1d3 traits from the alien features table 
6. Cosmic Light Show -these appear each time the vampire drains levels. Acts as a 'Dancing Lights' spell 
7. 'The Past Is Known To Me ' the vampire knows how to use any alien artifacts it comes across instantly 
8. 'Dark Secrets of The Universe' - The vampire gains 2 levels in Wizard or Magic User 
9. 'Cosmic Fury" - The vampire berserk every 3rd round of combat 
10. 'Continuous Current' The vampire is immune to energy weapons & once a week may create a blast of negative planar energy for 1d3 points of energy. This may only be healed by magic or super science other wise the wounds fester or become gangrenous. Unless a save versus poison is made.  

The Forbidden Knowledge of  The Black Hells 
A school of stellar damnation wizardry for cosmic vampires & their minions. 

1. Gather The Flock - This spell calls 1d6 minions to the side of the caster instantly 
2. Healing Of Pain - This spell focuses negative planar energy to heal 1d6 points of damage to the target but they gain 1d3 mutations from this healing 
3. Steal The Source - The spell drains 1d20 points of charges from weapons & equipment within a 20' radius of the caster. These points are his for 1d3 rounds. They must be used or they are lost. 
4. Hellish Form From Beyond - The caster gains +3 ht points & +2 constitution & wisdom. They become a strange blasphemous form & all within 10 ' must make a morale check or be subject to fear  . This form will last for 3 rounds only. 
5. Hands of Power - The caster's hands are surrounded by a corona of  dead stellar energies. These do 1d3 points of damage to those within 40' 
6. Become The Essence - The vampire becomes a specter & can pass through the local space time continuum. The caster must a saving throw versus death to resume their 'undead' bodies.  

The Carcosan Grimoire - A Short Review

The Carcosan Grimoire is a set of free resources for the role-playing supplement Carcosa by Geoffrey McKinney. This set is too be used with the older expurgated or unexpurgated edition of the game. I see no reason not to use the material in the updated version of the game. 

This 64 page fan produced supplement isn't adding tremendous amounts of history about the world of Carcosa. Instead it offers a frame work of interesting tid-bits, cool monsters, & interesting organizations as well as npc classes. The book starts with an article listing 1d30 ways to flesh out villages from a 1d30 chart. This chart gives options to a dungeon master whose got to come up with another village after hex 13 & the characters cross into hex 36. The handy little guide is followed by Mr. Dessaux which has a set of tables for creating (1d6) random customs, architecture, and clothes for new villages; while Ellis has a random table for body modifications. 

 All of this allows one to create unique villages & places to visit within the bounds of ultra violent Carcosa without having to get one's head bashed in every three seconds. Seriously it can get old when your trying to figure out the latest alien do dad & rest your characters heads while running constantly from mutant dinosaurs.
 In addition there are new monsters Mr.Nordin contributes the Yix'Caahl, Enslaver, and Omniscient Oracle of the Refulgent Maze monsters; and Doc adds the Predatory Mantis, Swamp Fell, and Nameless Folk. These monsters are very Lovecraftian to say the least. They fill in the giant monster category along with most of the 'what the hell' is happening sense we've come to expect from this setting.
 A note on "magic items" the magic items of the setting are built like artifacts. The alien technology is one of those things that players will be grabbing for as soon as they start dungeon crawling. However unlike most 'magic items' there are cultural taboos & such to items like  the infernal pigments of the Bone Men can get one killed. While the Rejuvenating Bath and Plains of Whispering Grass are magic items that seem right out of a Lovecraft story. 

  The Carcosan Grimoire adds the witch profession, and details the Brothers of the Skull (monk/paladin analogues for the setting), including a number of rituals and NPCs. These two classes are very well fleshed out & offer endless plot hooks for the Dungeon Master to play with . There are hints that these might not be the only other organizations that PCs will run into. 

    Finally the book has a table for randomly generating suitably Carcosan names that sound like overblown titles. These can really go a long way toward setting  stuff for a DM to get the feel of his village right. 

 Finally there is more monster goodness! The book has wilderness and underground wandering monster tables, and new monsters including men (with a random mutation table), giant insects, dinosaurs, and aquatic threats. There are  'Frequently asked Questions about Carcosa' with the author. Scattered in there are notes for using AD&D monsters with the setting & more background info. Its not simply another ' This is the author interview lets see what he thinks' Q&A there's some actual good stuff here.
  Final thoughts, this book packs lots of stuff into a very small package. THE MATERIAL IS MATURE. DID I MAKE THAT CLEAR ?!? If you don't like it then please don't download it.  There is really no reason why this couldn't be used with other Retro clone, Swords + Wizardry, Labyrinth Lord, Mutant Future, or regular original edition Dungeons & Dragons. I personally think its worth the download & have been using it since 2009.
                                                  Its free & can be downloaded Here

Jeff Easley/R. Scott Taylor Retro-Fantasy Book Launch

Well it looks like Jeff Easley/R. Scott Taylor  are up to no good. They're starting a fantasy publishing company trying to bring the "fun" back into fantasy publishing. Com'n I love reading fantasy novels the size of the New York phone book. I want to get whip lash from trying to turn the pages so I can follow a plot as Byzantine as a labyrinth. 
Actually I think that this is a great niche product idea & I hope that sell millions of copies. They certainly have the experience for it. Anyhow here's a copy of the kick start. 

I’m a fan of ‘the old ways of publishing’, meaning I like covers that inspire the imagination, and books that drive the reader forward instead of bogging them down with extended plots and dark turns.  It’s the way of the 60s, 70s, and 80s, and a way that iconic American fantasy artist Jeff Easley knows all too well from his work on the now venerable 1st Edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons as well as the horror and fantasy magazines of Warren Press.

In the spring of 2011 Jeff and I were working on an art book featuring many images throughout his career when we struck upon and idea to revisit some of the adventure, swords & sorcery, and sword & planet serialized stories of a lost era in fantasy publishing.

We realized that with his covers and my experience editing and writing for Black Gate Magazine, we could produce works that were similar to the classics we remembered so fondly.  To do this, however, we needed the support of fans of both his work and the kind of reading material that is no longer put out on the shelves of big box bookstores.

To accomplish this, I will write a 45K word novel and Jeff will provide a cover that helps rekindle the art of the late 60s and 70s. 

If we can find the support, we can produce something inspired that maintains the cutting edge quality of digital publishing while still clinging to the roots of the Grognard and Old School movements.

Also, Jeff came up with an added bonus!  Along with his full color fantasy cover that harkens back to the days of dark wizards, buxom vixens, and horrible beasts, he will include black and white interior illustrations similar to those found in novels of the era as well as the D&D modules he’s so famous for.  If contributions add up to more than the initial pledge, Jeff will contribute a single full page black and white drawing to be used inside the book for every $250 raised [up to ten new drawings].

So that’s our project, and we hope you are with us in our desire to recreate something that has been lost.  Thank you for your time and support.
 You can read more about this idea right Here

Inner City Urban Encounters Table - Classic Post Apocalypse

Inner City Urban Encounters Table

Day light hours 

1. Morlocks Scouting Party 1d20 1-3 hit points(Day light goggles) 
2. 1d4 gangers (count as barbarians) 1-4 hit points 
3. Church of Center Intelligence Missionaries 1d6 
4. C.H.U.D 1d6 20% of random mental mutation -Storm Drain Hunting Party -3 all daylight rolls 
5. Travelling Merchants 1d10 50% of ancient vehicle & or horses 
6. 1d3 Flaming Telepaths 
7. Mutant Gangers 5% chance of psychics 
8. 1d20 rats or 10% chance of giant rats max hit points 
9. 1d10 hawkoids flock 
10. 1d20 child gangers hopped up on Muscle max hit points 

 

When The Lights Go Out 

1. Mutant Party Goers 1d3 for twilight hours or 1d6 for late night 40% of illicit substance 
2. 1d6 giant rats or mutant coyotes 
3. 1d20 morlock scouting party with machine guns 
4. 1d4 Giant Slugs 
5. 1d10 zombies hungry & max hit points 
6. 1d6 giant leeches hanging from nearby buildings 
7. 1d6 mutant ladies of the evening or alien sex workers 
8. 1d20 gangers pure strain humans max hit points 
9. 1d8 cultists looking for sacrifices & trouble 20% of mutations 
10. 1d20 Carnivorous plant mutants hunting party 10% of mental mutations or artifacts