A blog about sewing machine repairs,but mainly my hobbies which include old school role playing games, science fiction,films, horror, and general geekery. Sit down and stay a spell.
White Star has a dizzying array of products out for that stand alone retro clone rpg system. Magic Pig Media comes out with a solid amount of products from pulp era titles to fully realized enemies. And now they've created another thirty nine page interstellar humancentric, dystopian universe for your PC's. Stark Space basically gives the DM all of the cyberpunk style options and tools for an interstellar back water world or sector for the sort of dangerous and sleazy adventure locations, NPC's, new PC options, races, a cyber add on system for White Star and other dangerous adventure ideas all boiled down to their cyberpunk gritty foundations and it does it with a style all of its own. In many ways Stark Space reminds me of West End Game's other Star Wars titles the ones that showed what was happening in the other not so nice parts of the 'Expanded Star Wars' universe map. That's not a bad thing as we shall see.
Stark Space boils down the PC's into the template like menu of PC class types that White Star uses; here we get : The Brains, The Face, and The Muscle which are then customized as the player sees fit and then assembled into PC's. We have genetically modified combatants called Max-Gene's, Simulants who are androids so close to human it hurts, and finally the Psi are humans with powers who have been main streamed into society and whom the corporations have main lined into interstellar society. This is the setting of hundreds of late night latterial Nineties and early two Thousands cyberpunk movies and television shows and White Star is in bad need of this type of setting. Sure your PC's can play 'Star Knights' and 'Smugglers' at will, but in Stark Space these folks are out on the edge of intergalactic society struggling with the high octane of real down and dirty adventure life. This is straight mainline Adrenalin material and quite frankly lately White Star is starting to bore me. Stark Space is just what the cybernetic doctor ordered! For three dollars you get everything you need to plunk PC's right down into a failed colony or feral cyberpunk dungeon world. There are more then a couple of new optional combat rules, equipment, and antagonists all waiting to tear into your PC's. Stark Space contains everything you need to bring your PC's right over into a high end intergalactic world of adventure without the BS of having another twenty books to nickel and dime you to death. Stark Space is a a fully developed set of tools straight out of the gate to create a high tension and dangerous world of cyberpunk dystopian adventure against the backdrop of the interstellar setting of White Star. I highly recommend this product and actively encourage Magic Pig Media to continue this title line with other product adds on's for Stark Space.
Another author whom I like for one stop shopping for White Star is Mark Hunt. HisShips of Shade Space and Drongo (Planet of Peril) From Leviathan Publishing both dovetail right back into White Star with a bit of work and can be evened out with MagicPig Media's Have Death Ray Will Travelcampaign
setting for a cross between Edgar Rice Burroughs and Babylon Five with
touch of Flash Gordon's vibe to even things out. I've been doing an OSR
sci fi campaign similar but with a completely different vibe for many
years otherwise I might be taking advantage of this sale myself. If I
were you my friends I'd take full advantage of this sale right now.
I received the pdf of Have Death Ray, Will Travel From Magic Pig Media for the White Star Rpg retroclone system as a pulp crossover point product three days ago. There's a whole campaigns feel here turned into forty five pages of material with some public domain sci fi comic book material used as the artwork for the book. Because White Star takes a lot of its P's & Q's from Star Wars and basically Star Wars derivatives much of its material from pulp magazines, properties, and comic books Magic Pig Media has tapped into that vein with 'Have Death Ray Will Travel'. The material here really taps into a specific form of pulp namely the post war WWII years from 1949 and onward. It describes itself as, 'The year is 1999 and a new millennium is on the horizon. Mankind has
colonized outer space. Lunar City is a bustling metropolis. Earth has
found new allies with the Martians and Venusians. The Solar System is
filled with mysteries, danger, and adventure!'
The setting material here is fine but dials back the interstellar action into a localized pulp solar system and Earth has expanded into the local Sol system. There's a great retro future feel to 'Have Death Ray, Will Travel' lends itself to any number of options but comes with its own built in campaign setting. Includes two new classes (Scientist and Gunfighter), ten new ships and
over 30 monsters and foes, and an introductory adventure: Lost Mines of
the Brain Masters. And it all seems to work very well for what it does which is emulates a very specific period in pulp history. Your party is going to be adventurers who roam the solar system solving problems, righting wrongs, and vanquishing futuristic supervillains and monsters. All of the planets of the solar system, and many of the moons and
asteroids, are suitable for life, and most are already occupied by humanoid extraterrestrial races. Magic Pig Media has tapped into the pulpy setting and weird aspects of the science fantasy space western in a way and it works on many levels. Here's where Have Death Ray, Will Travel shines:
Have Death Ray, Will Travel is great for designing out a pick up game of White Star in a pulpy Earth based solar system. There's lots of potential for campaign play in the limited sphere of Earth's solar system.
The retro future sci fi elements have plenty of material built right into the back end of this so that a clever DM could incorporate the pulp elements of this product into an existing White Star campaign ie alternative Earth solar system slotted into existing White Star Campaigns.
File off all of the campaign and setting elements of the two new classes (Scientist and Gunfighter), ten new ships and
over 30 monsters and foes, and an introductory adventure: Lost Mines of
the Brain Masters to make them your own. This is exactly what I'm going to do.
Is Have Death Ray Will Travel worth getting? In a word yes but wait till Drivethrurpg has a sale. For me the 'Have Death Ray Will, Will Travel 'campaign setting and options means customization and lots of it. Because White Star is Swords and Wizardry based it makes this retro future setting a good solid contender to shoe horn into existing campaigns. This
makes customizing the PC classes a snap because using the game elements of the product could show up in the most unlikely places say a dungeon or post apocalyptic ruin. The governmental agencies of Have Death Ray will Travel could have agents operating across the planes. For example the inter system monsters and aliens
could with little effort be used in a Mutant Future Mazes and Mutants
campaign providing the claw, muscle and high tech alien assistance to mutant
armed forces in the wastelands. For a Labyrinth Lord or Swords and
Wizardry campaign the Mad Scientists or Brain Masters could be the power behind the throne of your
favorite despotic rulers. For
Hulks and Horrors these guys make a great opposition for adventurers
combing through the space hulks for treasure, artifacts, or more. For
White Star or other OD&D retroclone style rpgs Have Death Ray, Will Travel has lots of
potential such as filling in a middle management campaign product role. My recommendation is to grab this one and use it to create some exciting pulp adventures for your White Star games.
Its amazing to me how much time has passed since I did anything with the White Star Retroclone Rpg system. The material for White Star comes out every single week or day it seems. Someone comes up with a new science fiction or science fantasy title for the game. This is not a bad thing in my humble opinion, it keeps the community vibrant and live with fresh ideas and new prospective toward the game. There's one area that always seems lacking to me and that's the middle management vile villains. You know those guys who are challenges and the type that are always dogging your White Star adventurers but don't quite have the TPK potential of the void knights. Well the Outer Space Raiders: The Norni from Magic Pig Media are not quite as cut and dry as they might appear. The Norni are an alien race example of what happens in those old Marvel Star Wars comics when the Rebels high tale it out of dodge and the Empire moves in for the conquest. We know that White Star drives its inspiration from old school Star Wars and Magic Pig Media has tapped that well with the Norni but in a good way. There's a lot going on here. According to the Rpgnow blurb: The Norni supported the fledgling rebellion. When the Imperial Armada
arrived, the Rebels fled and the Empire bombed the planet making it an
example to any who would oppose their power. Civilized worlds turned
their backs on the refugees out of fear of imperial reprisals. The Norni
are a people without a home, fated to wander the stars.' Sure it might sound a bit like the old Marvel Star Wars comics from the 80's but its not. There are several factors that those comics would never have tapped into.
The Norni themselves are basically a good people caught in the cross fire of forces beyond their control and the Rebellion is no better then the Imperials in their eyes. There's a racial history to this and the product has this built right into its history.
There are lots of opportunity for violence and deadly conflict with this race and they've got a reputation for space piracy and dark forces at their call. They also have access to technologies that generally seem to involve some heavy duty but kicking and its likely that your PC's are going be caught in the cross fire of it. This is not a race of NPC's that's made to sit on the side lines.
There are plenty of fleshed out details in nine pages and this isn't a pdf that leaves you with cliff hanger questions unlike Marvel's Star Wars where we got alien races and zippo background until later issues.
As I've said this is not a slow and steady pdf at all you get lots of tools for your dollar, yeah that's right a dollar buys you the following : Included is information on the Norni and their culture, the Norni Star Wanderer Racial Class, and twenty adventure hooks.
Also included is Lady Iliza, Mistress of the Void, a powerful Void Knight villain for use in your campaigns. So why do I like this pdf? Because you get a group of middle management vile villains with a reason to hate everyone and yet their not actually really bad guys more like victims with regrets who have issues with the universe of White Star. And their coming to get your adventurers in spades. Their is a new PC class right out of the gate that presents the Norni Star Wanderers which has a bit of the Star Trek Orions in their gamer racial PC DNA and a whole package of trouble for PC's ships. Here's the introduction blurb: The stars are your home. You wander the space ways in search of fame, fortune, and just a little bit of revenge. Not the type of PC that you want on the bad side of your adventuring party or their ship, instead I can see actually using this class to fill out the ranks of a smuggler or pirate ship on the side of the Rebels with a whole package of reasons to get into and out of trouble. We get broad strokes on culture, signature weapon, homeworld, timeline, Norni technology and solild looks into the race's home world, timeline, events, and more. This presents the Norni as a well rounded and fleshed out race with plenty of room for DM DYI campaign hook ins. There's also plenty of room to squeeze out even more play with the twenty Norni adventure hooks. There's enough here to be introducing the Norni into your campaigns and for using them for other applications. They don't make that kinda fun anymore. Because the author has included the little twist that the head of this race is a Void knight in her own right and there's a whole subplot involving the fact that she's got here own dark agenda going right in the back of the plot. She so evil that even her own race has exiled her. So there's a ton that can be done with her. This makes customizing the Norni a snap because using them anywhere means that they can pop up in the least likely places. For example the Norni could with little effort be used in a Mutant Future Mazes and Mutants campaign providing the muscle and high tech alien assistance to mutant armed forces in the wastelands. For a Labyrinth Lord or Swords and Wizardry campaign the Norni could be the power behind the throne of your favorite despotic rulers. For
Hulks and Horrors these guys make a opposition for adventurers
combing through the space hulks for treasure, artifacts, or more. For
White Star or other OD&D retroclone style rpgs this race has lots of
potential such as filling in a middle management enemy role, they could be bounty hunters or even gasp as
a possible PC alien PC race. My recommendation is to grab the PDF and customize the Norni as you see fit for your old school campaigns.
The White Star rpg retroclone system community is one of the most dynamic communities on G+, Facebook, and within the OSR. Everyday another supplement, monster book, alien race book, etc. hits the airwaves. But then comes along the Zeloxians. Described as a' small, fearless alien race that's out to conquer the
galaxy as soon as they fill out the right paperwork and get their
equipment to work.'they played for yucks but let me explain there is nothing funny about these aliens. They're possibly one of the most nightmarish bastards that you can run across. You see these guys are alien bureaucrats, possibly the equivalent of alien accountants, tax collectors, bean counters,pencil necked geeks, or any other nightmarish nebbish fool behind a desk that you've ever run across. And they've got energy weapons and their not afraid to use them. If these guys don't make your White Star or old school adventurers break out in a cold sweat then your not using these bastards right. I really don't think that the author even knows what he's created personally. He describes them as,"
The
Zeloxians are a darkly humorous, tongue-in-cheek alien race for your
space opera campaigns. Included are a racial class and the most common
pieces of Zeloxian equipment such as the Doom Fighter, Radium Atomizer Magnum Blaster ObliterationGun, Power Gauntlets, Trooper Armor and Powered Assault Armor." This is a tightly put together four page pdf that sells for around one dollar and what do you get for your dollar investment? An entire race and array of tools that you can torture your adventurers for hours and hours with. They don't make that kinda fun anymore. See these guys are the bill collectors, phone sanitizers, tax collectors,etc. of the space ways and their waiting to suck the fun and treasure right out of your PC's hands. Its all here in black and white, signed sealed, and printed out in triplicate waiting in a nice tightly sealed official looking envelop in the standard Zeloxian Empire stationary. And these little bastards have the weaponry and fire power to enforce their will on your adventurers. Think that your Swords and Wizardry retroclone dungeons are safe? Think again, rumors that Zeloxians parties of bureaucrats & treasure enforcer units are even now are dimension hopping to take away your hard earned gold. After all hyper space bypasses, and empires across the stars don't run themselves. Grab It Right Over HERE
Everything about these guys reeks of smarmy pencil headed alien bureaucratic menace in spades, these little bastards will drown your PC's in red tape while blasting the Hell out of em with a spade of weapons that are scattered throughout the pdf. There are rumors of Zeloxian agents infiltrating across the stars and into governments,bars, gambling establishments,intergalactic brothels, and every black market operation they can get their four fingers into! All the better to report to their masters and tax your PC's to death. Everything you need to run these little alien horror shows is included in the pdf. Personally I think that this pdf is merely another piece of Zeloxian empire propaganda. These alien penny pinchers are rumored to split ten percent with local intergalactic governments any taxes they collect. And these bastards have been known to show up in dungeons, post apocalyptic ruins, and a wide variety of retroclone OD&D style systems. They have a tendency to spoil any fun that they can for adventurers. Even though this is a well written pdf, the fact is that there are some adventurers who have been know to shoot these guys on sight! The fact is that the Zeloxians make a great mid level alien menace that can be easily dropped into a wide variety of old school adventure settings and can cause adventurers all kinds of mayhem. DM's should pick this pdf up for the sheer horror that these alien bastards can wreck in an old school or retroclone system. There are a wide variety of applications where the Zeloxians could be used. For a Basic Fantasy rpg campaign these little nasties could be used as tax collectors, enemies, conquerors, or used as part menace or comedy relief. For Hulks and Horrors these guys make a perfect foil for adventurers combing through the space hulks for treasure, artifacts, or more. For White Star or other OD&D retroclone style rpgs this race has lots of potential such as filling in a foil role, comedy relief or even gasp as a possible PC alien PC race. My recommendation is to grab the PDF and customize the Zeloxians as you see fit for your old school campaigns. These little bastards are flexible enough to have a vary large variety of uses.
The White Star rpg community has to be one of the most active rpg communities I've ever seen, and there's been fan based & professional product after product for the game coming out daily it seems.. Which brings me to Outer Space Raiders Volume 2: Aliens, Creatures & Foes by Magic Pig Media. This book covers over twenty monsters drawn from the public domain, the author's warped imagination, and generally every conceivable source that's known to man. But is it good? Well, this is done with an eye towards tongue planted firmly in cheek here. There are over twenty monsters from the Pulsarites to Warp Beasts with at least one fully developed race called the Radioactive Lust Vampires. I love the artwork for this monster by Bradley McDermott.You've even got some star ship sized monsters in the form of Cosmic Behemoth or the Star Kraken along with some others. Finally to round out the whole affair you get a random Bug-Eyed Monster generator and three new starships in the appendixes or add ons.
For the most part I enjoyed the book which you get eight pages for a dollar fifty and over twenty monsters as well.
Everything seems well put together here, the font is easy to read and the monsters are pretty damn useful but the tongue & cheek tone of the book bothers me a bit. White Star while it is a Swords and Wizardry variation seems to have as many science fiction and fantasy settings. Magic Pig is taking full advantage of this situation to bring DM's a good selection of monsters. But the fact is that this collection takes the overview approach to its monsters not quite seriously enough but there are some damn useful foes in this book. With a bit of imagination these monsters could easily be used in any Swords and Wizardry or OD&D style campaign adventure. Because there are traditional, funny, and pulp material mixed in. I have a feeling that a DM is for a bit of a headache with the monsters in here. These monsters work quite perfectly for a sci fi action comedy series such as one that draws from the Ice Pirates or the Star Wars knock off school of space fantasy. There is a ton of utility and bang for your buck here for a dollar fifty, with a bit of fore thought there's plenty here to get in on the ground floor of Outer Space Raiders Volume 2: Aliens, Creatures & Foes. Would I recommend this for the right DM to take his game into a comedy style science fiction or space adventure? Absolutely this is a very well done little solid game book. Four out of four for this one. My advise is to grab this one and get the ball rolling.
"Mayday, mayday, this is the 'PFFFTTT', valuable cargo, crew barely hanging on, trying to make Waterbury space port over. This is Commander Ben Woodruff we're coming in hot and don't have enough power to "PFFFFT" Crew dead but not dead and oh God tell Wendra I love her! PFFFTT"
The crew of the USS Wendra returning Earth side from a mission to Orion is bringing something back with them! Commander Ben Woodruff has brought his ship in hot two weeks ago and now mercenaries are being sent in to see what happened to the crew of the atomic rocket craft. There have been weird lights seen in the skies above the ruins of Waterbury Ct. and it's one of the last automated space ports on the East Coast.
The seven man crew of the atomic rocket were carrying very valuable and top secret cargo and already several parties appear interested after getting that radio transmission! The 'Space Police' have already sent in an operative whose disappeared! And now one of the adventurers has been contacted. The Teilfling Runner served with Commander Woodruff in one of the demon slaying special forces units out near Europa dealing with the forces of Chaos in the past. The space port ruins sit near a gate way to 'Fairy' as well right in the heart of the former city state so who knows what forces they might send in.
The ship's advanced super science equipment has landed the ship safely that much is clear but who knows what the characters may encounter in the wretched hive of scum and villainy in the heart of these ruins. There are several hundred thousand gold pieces worth of equipment aboard that ship and some deadly business awaits the PC's. The ship is sending out a steady 'green transmission' indicating that the ship has landed safely. But things could very dangerous indeed.
The 'workshop' an outfit of 'top men' are currently the last bastions of the CIA and various other top secret US agencies is responsible for dealing with the ruin that is the Earth and for various cells of resistance against the Voltamen incursion. They hire adventurers, mercenaries, outlaws, and other forces to help out with various missions around the globe as they can only handle so many assets in the field as well.
Set Up and Scaling For Fantastic Heroes and Witchery Adventure 'Death Ship Above Waterbury!'
Three of my players have been called into work tonight and can't make it. But that's not going to cause any problems. I've decided to run a smaller and tighter adventure for tonight's Fantastic Heroes and Witchery game for the other players. There are several reasons for this. One to get them used to the combat, set up, experience, and play sequences and to really get them familiar with the pulp back story I'm going to be pulling from. Pre code horror, science fiction, and other public domain comic books as well. One of which is the Planet Comics From Fiction House with its Skylords,Riflemen errmm Space Police.
Because these comics are public domain their perfect resources to pull from for my Warlords of The Outer World Campaign. Tonight's game will be a prequel for the ruins of Springfield Mass run coming up in a week or so.
One of the first menaces that the PC's in tonight game will be facing besides the Voltamen will be the Kobold Marauders from the Teratic Tome page 69. And details for the ship itself have come from both the comic above. And Neo plastic Press's The Star Ship From Hell. This system of random tables is perfect for just this style of set up. Available right over HERE as a pay what you want title.
The reasons for using this system as part of tonight's adventure construction is pretty well laid out in the video below. I'll let you know how it goes after the party's set up and meeting and dealing with the deadliness I've got in store.
First off Fantastic Heroes And Witchery is available right over HERE and here's the set up for tonight's game.
Right,so tonight I'm getting together with my players to have a PC work shop and set up with Fantastic Heroes and Witchery. The adventure is in the Warlords Of The Outer Worlds campaign universe in the wilds of Neo England between Massachusetts. The set up is simple and open ended a group of mercenaries is called together for the reading of a will and hired by the lawyer of the estate to retrieve a trio of magical swords from the ruins of the city of Springfield, Mass. The city was the stronghold of the Voltamen but has been abandoned for the last few years after rumors of undead and horrors from beyond the pale have moved in. The mix of fantasy, science fantasy and post apocalyptic horror is right on the menu for tonight's game. The PC options offered by the pulp, science fantasy download, and some of the other optional material are in mix from over HERE. One of the players is already put his cards on the table for playing a Runner from FH&W.
Because of FH&W's mix of fantasy, science fantasy, science fiction, and Lovecraftian pulpy goodness the choices here are easy to slide into place for this campaign of high action and adventure. The PC's are adventurers, mercenaries and reverers in a rather weird post apocalyptic wasteland of terror. These guys are heroes and this is very well reflected in the presentation of the game but this isn't going to help them at all. There are secrets and monsters about ruins to explore and the forces of Chaos about.
So where exactly does Rafael Chandler's writings and work fit into this? Well Springfield has been 'abandoned' for a reason or rather several unpleasant reasons. This game is being done on a rather small scale campaign with a very definite 80's horror and sci fi pulp vibe to it that FH&W captures in spades for me.
This is isn't quite the world that you know folks. In point of fact the world of 2889 is a pulptastic hot bed of adventure intrigue and nasty cults of horror. And this is all pretty much Rafael Chandler's fault.
The Serpent's Den of Springfield
The ruins of Springfield Mass are literally crawling with a multitude of various type of giant mutant serpents and weird naga creatures from various dimensions. The city has become the headquarters for a minor serpent cult that worships some very nasty alien gods of Lovecraftian evil. How this came about or why is at least to the PC's completely unknown.
A weird combination of factors has created a nasty situation in the city with a small one hundred plus cult operating in the area. These occultists have been trading and operating with several groups out of Dunwich, Arkham, and the surrounding states.And the cult has been growing by leaps and bounds.
The cult was rolled up using the machinations from Rafael Chandler's Obscene Serpent Religion crowned out with the perverse art of Gennifer Bone. And then filled in with the monstrous horrors of the Teratic Tome making it that much more cinematic. And so this makes it very Lovecraftian but bits and pieces were filled in from the Fantastic Heroes and Witchery rule book, classic Monster Manual one and two. I don't want to go into too much more details because my players are reading this blog. I still need to aqquire a physical copy of OSR for myself but sufficient to say its been a very interesting read and exercise to roll up through this ADULT themed book. Extreme caution should be exercised when using this book. Its available right over HERE
More coming soon from the Ruins of Springfield! Thanks To DOM, Rafael Chandler and Gennifer Bone for all of the support material for tonight's old school fiasco!
I 'm going to do a quick break down of one of my recent favorite monster books, The Teratic Tom from Neoplastic Press. You can get the pdf HERE Or The Hardback from Lulu HERE The the APR15 and FWD15 coupons on Lulu should apply at least for a little while and before you ask I'm not shilling for LuLu or Mr. Chandler.
So two weeks ago, I ordered a physical copy of the Teratic Tome by Rafael Chandler and his crew of incredibly demented and talented artists who worked on the book. The fact is that I've read review after review of the book and aside from the 'oh's and ah's over the mature and slightly disturbing content with all of the tentacles. I'd like to address something about the monsters withing the book. Yes there are high level monsters of all kinds and demons, devils, and wall to wall Lovecraftian weirdness in between the slime filled tendril laden entries. Each monster has a very simple challenge level built right into the entries. And aside from being a well put together book this level entry system is keyed for the levels of the PC's who should be fighting said monstrosities. And yes there are low level horrors just waiting to tackle your PC's in the book. The thing about these horrors is that these nasties are memorable and very dangerous but not out of the realm of unkillable at all. Far from it, these are horrors that can go a long way to really giving your PC's a hard time. For example right out the gate we get a very well done horror that is keyed in for a level five party of fools erm adventurers. Another thing to notice is the simple and concise way that the treasure is laid out in the book, each entry has everything splayed out with the beastie's lair and its contents right in front of you. A simple and easy way of doing treasure in a game.
Other bits and pieces that that added to the monster's setting and feel is the inclusion of the way the damn thing smells and I do me damn thing here in every sense of the word. Its these simple and well thought out little fiddly details that brings the whole monster experience home for a DM. Which is one of the reasons why I decided to use this book for my upcoming a Fantastic Heroes and Witchery campaign. Another asthetic details that gets thrown in here is the way that each monster's entry is almost but not quite a bit like a movie plot hook. That is brought home in entry after entry with lots of little nuggets and details about the mad bastard horrors that your PC's are facing down. This was done I believe on purpose and has a very 80's vibe to it. Each and every monster is almost its own star in a way and it echoes something that a friend recently said to me. Each of these monsters should be its own 'star' of an adventure or to put it another way each monsters is unique enough to have the adventures built around it. A recent conceil that I found with old pre code horror comics and movies going back to the golden age of Hammer horror. One monster or creature powerful enough to carry the entire picture or film and powerful enough to give the PC's a hard time.
There is also an Arduin style vibe that runs through this book as well, one of power attracting power and that those with power cause ripples across the multiverse over and over again. This is again another echo that I think was done quite well on purpose and one that goes straight back into the back bone of the recent Lamentations of The Flame Princess rpg monster book Lusus Naturae. Over and over again there's over lap between the monsters here as if there's far more bubbling below the slime covered surface of this book and I can see the various arrows point back and forth between the horrors with in the Teratic Tome. Now I've mentioned using this book with Fantastic Heroes and Witchery. But why? Because the average FH&W PC is slight more robust hit point wise and the dark dangerous tone of that game suits this book of horrors quite well but it needs to be pointed as with the other book that less is far more in this case.
I haven't gotten into Dungeon Crawl Classics rpg at all. I've been poking it with a ten foot pole for some time but I couldn't get a copy or access to a print copy in my region of New England. So I kinda jumped at the chance to take a look at Issue one of Crawling Under A Broken Moon issue#1
Crawling in a Gonzo Post-Apocalyptic Fantasy World
The Technologist
A class dedicated to the accumulation of scientific knowledge and power
Weapons of the Wastelands
Guns, Guns, and more Guns
Twisted Menagerie
The Sharkhana, Debris Elemental, and Sentrybot
An Interesting Place to Die
Blooms Fashions: a store with clothes to die for
Crawling Under A Broken Moon takes it points from every post apocalyptic trope known in science fantasy movies, literature, gaming, and spins it through the DCC rpg system. The issue is pretty nicely packed with some very familiar material here. The first article describes maintaining the air of what its like trying to describe the post apocalyptic world to your players. There's an artifact condition table and some pretty solid advice. Next up we get the technologist and in true DCC fashion we get a nice little rounded out PC class. There's enough here to work with and add into the back part of the DCC system. This class is probably one of the most useful folks for a full post apocalyptic party. The class is pretty well balanced for a gonzo game. Over all the first couple of bits are not bad at all. Weapons of the Wastelands which includes rules for Firearms,gun smith work, and lots of familiar modern firearms and some energy weapons thrown into the mix. Twisted Menagerie gives four mutated mutant monsters for the DCC wasteland crawl campaign. The Sharkhana is a humor filled nightmare for your adventurers to encounter. The mutant menace reminds me of a certain 90's shark themed cartoon and it hits a certain nostalgia spot. The Debris Elemental is a monster I've seen used in quite a few old school rpgs and this is always a favorite to see it used in the ruins. The sentry bot is perfect for your malls of murder or ruins of doom. It comes with a complete chart for its behavior and malfunction, this looks like it would be fun to play around. The Lobstrosity is a take off on the Lovecraftian Mi Go retrofitted into the UnAmerica setting.
Blooms Fashions is an adventure location that can be dropped into any mall or ruined strip mall. Not too bad of a location to drop into a game. I can see using this in some ways. Not a bad first effort for a fanzine, personally I'd wait till she goes on sale. And then grab a copy but all in all its worth the effort for a download.
Well the new Dawn of The Planet Apes has landed and it looks pretty bad ass. I have a feeling that we're going to be seeing a lot more mutant apes in your post apocalyptic campaigns. The trailer looks excellent and the movie's advertising campaign is in full effect. Will the film live up to the hype. Here's the basic plot : The apes and humans appear to be at each other's throat after the viral outbreak of the first movie. A few years have passe but this movie has it's ties deeply story wise with the Rise Of Apes fist film.
This movie looks like it picks up right on the heels of the last film and what was established in that one. We continue with the trials and tribulations of Caesar and the emerging evolved ape nation. These films seem to loosely follow the 1960's and 70's apes films but they're also charting their own territory. These movies seem more 'realistic' and heavy on the story line of conflict between ape and mankind. The original films always seemed to have a flair for an alternative Earth that you the viewer just stepped into with backgrounds just waiting to be explored. These films almost seem to be a world that is twelve seconds from our own world.Everything here is growing organically. I wouldn't mind exploring these films as campaigns making rules up for PC generation. Yet I don't have too.
Apes have always been lurking in the lists of mutant animals and encounters ever since the first edition Metamorphosis Alpha by James Ward. Gamma World allowed us to play such creatures.
Many of the post apocalyptic old school games can easily adapt to either of the ape movie styles. Either the nineteen sixties classic Planet of The Apes or the newer Rise material. From Mutant Future to its predecessor in spirit Gamma World either of the games has the means to meta game many of the ideas we've seen in both Rise and Dawn. Mutant Future and Labyrinth Lord certainly has had write ups of many of the main species of apes and it's not a huge stretch to see them with used within games. AD&D certain had stats for a number of simian antagonists that can be used as monsters or bench marks for PC generation. My friend Bill from Green Skeleton Gaming guild even had War Chimps for planet Algol and many of the other classic & retroclone games. Available right over HERE
What will the world of Caesar look like three hundred years in the future of Dawn of The Apes world? I'm not entirely sure but it's a very interesting looking film. I absolutely love the classic Planet Of The Apes films but that's a whole other blog post. There is far too much material. Does the movie look fantastic? Yes.. But is this film that I would want to play an adventure or two in? Absolutely but an extended campaign might just drive me bananas.
The Further Reaches of Simian Exploration We've seen many of the classic motifs of explorers from the past traveling into the world of the post apocalyptic future of the classic Ape films. But what about trying something different for your PC's? In this case the PC's come across a post apocalyptic ape world. Could the species of apes from Dawn of the Apes be a completely different world? A strange alternative timeline or perhaps another variation on the PC's home world where things have taken a very dark course? What would the PC's reaction be? What happens if they go back to their own home world only to find out that the events of Dawn are occurring just as they get back to their own world? Is time a cycle after all and they've simply traveled along their own time track? Could a Stars Without Numbers game become a fix up job of such a world. Instead of merely trying to explore strange new worlds. Could the PC's prevent the genocide of two species? Would they want to? What if saving the humans damages the time line of their own world and they're actually the cause of such an extinction? Could the PC's come face to face with Simian explorers from another time track who are just as perplexed about the PCs? The mind boggles with gaming possibilities.
Good science fiction films make the audience speculate and while they're not going to replace the 1960's classic Planet Of The Apes. This set of movies is certainly shaping up to be something entertaining and different. At least they're not leaving the audience swinging from the trees.
I'll be getting my coat and don't forget to try the fish folks. Be sure to tip your waitress and roll some dice.
