Free Retro Science Fiction Download - The Martian Revenge From August 1930 Issue Of Wonder Stories For Your Old School Science Fantasy Campaign

 

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HERE 

Here's a great old fashioned retro science fiction story perfect old school science table top

Science Fiction novelette published in August 1930 issue of Wonder Stories magazine.
From The Marooned On Mars Blog :
A  novelette written by  Henrik Dahl Juve  and illustrated by pioneering SF artist Frank R. Paul, as it was originally published in the August 1930 issue of Wonder Stories magazine.

 "Suddenly the Martians' friendliness vanished and they became merciless killers ..."

 A Momentary Word On Henrik Dahl Juve 

Just a quick word about the pulp sci fi author Henrik Dahl Juve here. Many of the usual pulp science fiction devices that we seem to take for granted in the science fiction pulps at the time made their appearance in this story. From screens, to molecular disruptors, wireless energy transmission, all of the science fiction tropes are at work here. His work makes some great old school adventure settings. Very easy to transform into an afternoon's OSR play. 

 The author is now mostly forgotten but managed to turn out some exciting stuff including this issue of Wonder Stories and three more novelettes as well as anthology of his work. They include the September issue 1932,  the February 1930 issue and much more including the  anthology from 1984 called The silent destroyer: A science fiction anthology by Henrik Dahl Juve (1984). The anthology is long out of print but the stories were interesting, concise, and pretty entertaining for space opera and science fiction.

 His work makes great fodder for any old school space based game. Its breezy, entertaining, very pulptastic old school science fiction and easily translatable into an retroclone format.

Its nice to see a journey man writer and bring him back into the light. Very cool stuff I hope to bring more of Mr. Dahl Juve's stuff to light in the future. 

Free Appendix N Vintage Science Fiction Download - "The Beast-Jewel of Mars" By Leigh Brackett From Spring 1955 issue of Planet Stories Magazine For Your Old School Space Opera

  "The city was strange, fantastic, beautiful. He'd never been there before, yet already he was a fabulous legend ... a dire, hateful legend."

You can download it

right over

HERE

 A great tale from the heyday of 'Planet Stories' and a good solid resource for a vintage Mars campaign. I've used it as part of a 'lost city of the past' on Mars as part of my Post Apocalyptic Stars Without Numbers campaign. So far as I can see it's one of this author's only efforts for the magazine.

 


Planet Stories is one pulp magazine with a rich and checkered past. You can read more right HERE
 According to Wiki : 

Planet Stories was an American pulp science fiction magazine, published by Fiction House between 1939 and 1955. It featured interplanetary adventures, both in space and on other planets, and was initially focused on a young readership. Malcolm Reiss was editor or editor-in-chief for all of its 71 issues. Planet Stories was launched at the same time as Planet Comics, the success of which probably helped to fund the early issues of Planet Stories. Planet did not pay well enough to regularly attract the leading science fiction writers of the day, but did manage to obtain work from well-known names on occasion, including Isaac Asimov and Clifford Simak. In 1952 Planet published Philip K. Dick's first sale, and went on to print four more of his stories over the next three years.

 The reason why I think that the magazine is still important to OSR rpg's is the following from Wiki:

"The two writers most identified with Planet Stories are Leigh Brackett and Ray Bradbury, both of whom set many of their stories on a romanticized version of Mars that owed much to the depiction of Barsoom in the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs. Bradbury's work for Planet included an early story in his Martian Chronicles sequence. Brackett's best-known work for the magazine was a series of adventures featuring Eric John Stark, which began in the summer of 1949. Brackett and Bradbury collaborated on one story, "Lorelei of the Red Mist", which appeared in 1946; it was generally well-received, although one letter to the magazine complained that the story's treatment of sex, though mild by modern standards, was too explicit." The artwork also emphasized attractive women, with scantily clad damsels in distress or alien princesses on almost every cover.

You've got two of the most important science fiction and science fantasy writers in one magazine and under one roof writing about their own versions of  Bar errm ' A Romanticized version of Mars' Is it any wonder that it's stories are still beloved by science fiction fans even today

 According to wiki

A derivative anthology, The Best of Planet Stories #1, appeared in 1975 from Ballantine Books, edited by Leigh Brackett, containing seven stories reprinted from between 1942 and 1952.   It was intended to be the first of a series, but no further volumes appeared
Too bad it would have been nice to have gotten my hands on more of these tales. If it seems that many of these Martian tales seem to be deriative of each other starting in the 1920's and working their way all the way through the late 60's. Mars has been and still remains ingrained in the public's imagination. Folks want the planet to be exactly what they always thought it was one the canals were first seen through telescopes at , the dawn of the age of rockets. Heck, ever since HG Well's published War Of The   World.
Stars Without Numbers lends itself easily to a tale such as this and adapting to a group of PC's is quite easy. The city of legend lost in the desert is a trope that has been around since the 'Arabian Nights' and even further back. Believe it or not each and every time I've used it players still fall for it hook, line, and sinker. The old tricks are still some of the best. This tale has some pretty large blank fill in the map areas to it and that makes it pretty desirable for use in adventure and campaign design. This is pretty much a drop in and go Mars tale like so many at the time. That's not a bad thing at all.
 While Paizo can claim 'Planet Stories' as an exclusive. The real 'Planet Stories' ran between 1939 and 1952 with an unforgettable inheritance that has never been equaled only copied to some extent over the decades.
Grab the the tales HERE but just remember who the original trail blazers were. Folks like Isaac Asimov, Clifford Simak,Leigh Brackett,Ray Bradbury, and V. E. Thiessen.
As for me I've got a date on Mars, A Post Apocalyptic hellhole waiting to devour some players!
Happy Adventuring and don't forget your ray gun! 

Free Retro Science Fiction Download Inspiration - The Tree of Life - C. L. Moore For Your Old School Space Opera

 

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HERE

The interplanetary adventurer Northwest Smith trapped for food by Thag, a 4-dimensional monster, in the ruins of the ancient Martian city of Illar.

  Dark Illar is the perfect desert ruin for trapping your PCs and getting them into a sci fi Gothic adventure. The place is a nasty nightmare location just waiting for PC's to blunder into a hellish encounter.

A Bit Background NorthWest Of Earth 

These are classic  C.L. Moore and their pulp science fiction roots show through. The fact that many of her stories seem to feature Lovecarftian god like aliens is simply icing on the cake. She remains one of my all time favorite writers. North West Smith is the classic anti hero adventurer/space which now seems the classic trope. 

 

According To Wiki : 

By profession, Smith is an outlaw who lives by a variety of criminal means, including smuggling. By nature, he is an anti-hero, ruthless, self-serving, and cynical. Despite this, he has a core of goodness and often does the right thing in spite of himself. Smith is described as a dark haired man with "space bronzed" skin and pale eyes, who wears brown spacer's leathers and carries a raygun at his side like an old west gunfighter. His ship, the Maid, is small and unspectacular but surprisingly fast and agile. His closest ally is the equally amoral Venusian, Yarol.

His stories often involve ancient alien beings who have been worshipped as gods. This theme is similar to the tales of H. P. Lovecraft though, unlike Lovecraft's tales, Moore provides a hero who always manages to win out over hopeless odds. The classic Northwest Smith story is "Shambleau" in which Moore plays with themes of sexuality and addiction in Smith's encounter with a strange female alien.

The story "Quest of the Starstone" is also worth noting because it connects Smith with Moore's other most famous character, Jirel of Joiry.

Moore originally created Smith as a western character and kept the name when she switched to science fiction.^[1] She reportedly liked the absurdity of a character named "Northwest" in space, where compass points are meaningless.

Moore traced the origin of the character's name to the typing work which she was doing for a living while writing Shambleau and which included a letter addressed to a "Mr. N.W.Smith"

 You can find out more about the first lady of Science Fiction

 

HERE

The North West Stories and collections are the following : 

• "Shambleau" (Weird Tales, November 1933). On Mars, Northwest rescues a strange, beautiful girl from the Lakkdarol mob. They become very close.
• "Black Thirst" (Weird Tales, April 1934). A Minga woman invites Northwest into the forbidden Venusian fortress where she lives. It turns out to be even larger than expected.
• "Scarlet Dream" (Weird Tales, May 1934). An oddly-patterned shawl that Northwest picks up in Lakkdarol gives him unpleasant dreams.
• "Dust of Gods" (Weird Tales, August 1934). Northwest and Yarol take a job searching for the physical remnants of a dead god in northern Mars.
• "Julhi" (Weird Tales, March 1935). Northwest takes a wrong turn in the ruins of Vonng, Venus.
• "The Cold Gray God" (Weird Tales, October 1935). In the polar city of Righa on Mars, Northwest meets a Venusian lady who isn't quite herself.
• "Yvala" (Weird Tales, February 1936). Northwest and Yarol go looking to capture slave-women on one of Jupiter's moons and find out more about themselves.
• "Lost Paradise" (Weird Tales, July 1936). A little old man with a big secret helps Northwest learn more about ancient Lunar history.
• "The Tree of Life" (Weird Tales, October 1936). In the ruins of Illar, Northwest finds out more about the Martian drylanders' past.

Fanzine stories and collaborations[edit]

• "Nymph of Darkness" (Fantasy Magazine fanzine, April 1935; written with Forrest J. Ackerman)
• "Quest of the Starstone" (Weird Tales, November 1937; written with Henry Kuttner)
• "Werewoman" (Leaves fanzine, Winter 1938/39)
• "Song in a Minor Key" (Scienti-Snaps fanzine, February 1940). Northwest meditates on his own past life.

Collections[edit]

Northwest Smith stories appear in the following collections:

• Shambleau and Others (1953): Shambleau, Black Thirst, The Tree of Life, Scarlet Dream (collection also includes Black God’s Kiss, Black God’s Shadow and Jirel Meets Magic, three Jirel of Joiry stories)
• Northwest of Earth (1954): Dust of Gods, Julhi, Lost Paradise, The Cold Gray God, Yvala (collection also includes The Dark Land and Hellsgarde, two Jirel of Joiry stories)
• Scarlet Dream (1981): Black Thirst, Dust of Gods, Julhi, Lost Paradise, Shambleau, The Cold Gray God, The Tree of Life, Yvala, Scarlet Dream, Song in a Minor Key
• Black Gods and Scarlet Dreams (2002): The same stories as Scarlet Dream, together with five stories of Jirel of Joiry.
• Northwest of Earth (2007): All of the Northwest Smith stories, both primary and fanzine/collaborations.

Commentary On The Free Retro Science Fiction Download : Vandals of the Void (1953.Winston) By Jack Vance & The Warriors Of White Light Adventure For Your Old School Space Opera & Star Frontiers Campaigns

Today we're going to be talking about space pirates and an old juvenile science fiction novel called Vandals of the Void. This juvenile science fiction novel came out in 1953 by science fiction and fantasy master Jack Vance. The novel takes place place in the futuristic year of 1985 and the clashes between the Space Navy and the space pirates framed against the life lessons of Dick Murdock. This is the first in a series of loosely related novels set with Vance's Gaean Reach region of space which according to Wiki:"
The Gaean Reach includes all worlds colonized by humans, among which trade and travel flow freely for the most part. Its name apparently means "the range (reach) of [the people from] Earth (Gaea)"; it could also be derived from Old English 'rice' (pronounced reech-e), meaning 'realm' (cf. German Reich). Some of these worlds are advanced and cosmopolitan, such as Alphanor; others, like Thamber, are inhabited by shipwrecked and forgotten people, who have reverted to feudalism. Some, like the world of Wyst in the Alastor Cluster, are undeniably strange in their culture and customs.
The period of the Gaean Reach spans several centuries, if not millennia, at an indeterminate time in the future. Specific dates are given in the early books of the Demon Princes series, but not in the others. The human civilization in the Demon Princes is the Oikumene, which can be seen as a precursor to or variant of the Gaean Reach. The Reach is mentioned in the three Alastor books, the Cadwal Chronicles, Ports of Call and Lurulu. Singleton works are also included, such as Emphyrio, Night Lamp, Maske: Thaery and The Gray Prince, where it is defined as follows: "the Gaean Reach encompasses a perceptible fraction of the galaxy. Trade routes thread space like capillaries in living tissue; thousands of worlds have been colonized, each different from every other, each working its specific change upon those men who live there. Never has the human race been less homogenous.""

Download this right over

HERE

Vandals of the Void (1953.Winston)  Jack Vance is a teen science novel set during the far future of 1985 and outlines the struggles between the space marines of the Space Navy and the struggles of space pirates. There is some rip roaring stuff here to mine for old school gaming.This includes several factions of pirates, NPC's for the Space Navy and more. The plot is classic space opera and if your looking for more then a rip roaring pulpy adventure you might be disappointed.  In fact bits and pieces of Vandals of the Void reminded me of the Star Frontiers module from the Knight Hawks box set called Warriors of the White Light. Your PC is a member of a crew aboard a space patrol vessel hunting pirates and dealing with some major spacer adventure issues.


Vandals takes the main hero into the belly of the beast and takes several minor twists even though this is a young adult book there are several deaths and some very interesting space battles. The novel takes the reader into the heart of the space pirate's operation and while its not widely regarded among certain circles of science fiction fans I found it to be a damn fun read and the pirates are a great adventure hook to use in your own old school games. Personally I would update the novel's plot to Star Frontiers or a retroclone such as Stars Without Number and then set the whole affair loose on my players.

If your going to use Warriors of the White Light as the basis for a campaign touch stone then you can down load that right over here.  Your also going to need the Knight Hawk Rules which can be downloaded from the same web address for free as well.

From Google Books: 

In the Foreword, writing fifty years ago, the author describes his vision of a new space age; he predicts that by 1985 the age of space piracy will begin and that a Space Navy will be established, speculating that some of his younger readers might participate: "I hope that none of you serve with the pirates .. The pay might not be so good in the Space Navy, but you'll live longer".

Much of the material is a great overview of the Space Navy and their ilk. The ideals here are pure science fiction 'boys' goodness. Very much in the vein of the times. But there is some great stuff to mine especially the space ship descriptions, locations, gadgets, and much more.

 Much of the material is incredibly dated but that really is part of the charm of the book. This is perfect retro future gaming goodness. Its definitely written in Vance's style but highly curtailed for his 1950's teen audience. 

 Bits and pieces of it remind me of some WWII like situations that were still fresh in the minds of folks of the time. Gaming wise I can think of several retro science fiction clones that might use this material including : X plorers, Stars Without Number, and even Star Frontiers given the right 'Retro Future' treatment.

 All in all its a very cool little free download and a great piece for mining for gaming.

 Best of all its free!

Classic Free Sci Fi Reference - Starlog Photo Guidebook:Weapons For Your Old School Campaigns

There is a long tradition of the sci fi weapon in the entertainment venues of science fiction television shows and films. Ray guns, laser swords, and a variable rainbow of ray weapons and blasters has been one of the staples and traditions of sci fi fandom. When it comes to Starlog magazine the Photoguide book series of magazines were the references to have. Now the internet archive has had one of my favorites for a free download. The Starlog Photo Guidebook:Weapons is a relic from 1979 that's always been one of those books that somehow were out of reach to comic book and film fanatic in the middle of the North Western Hills of Connecticut. This isn't really so much a technical manual, the Starlog Photo Guidebook:Weapons is a reference book from 1979.

GRAB IT RIGHT OVER
HERE

What it contains is weaponry from film and sci fi television shows starting with Planet Algol from 1920 all the way through an overview of the weaponry of Space 1999 and Battle Star Galactica. There is a brief overview of the show and film that their covering followed by a note about weapon prop. Don't let this fool you sci fi dungeon masters there's plenty here to use, Science Fiction Weapons covers a ton of off the radar or half forgotten film or television shows. The middle section also has some very nice color inserts of Luke's light saber, the Martian War of the Worlds manta ship,a Logan's Run pistol and more. While much of this material might seem like its easily within reach of a dungeon master with an internet connection. All of this material is in one book that happens to be a free download. But there's actually more to this book.

From Dr. Who to Fire Ball XL5 these all get their own sections including Battle Star Galactica 1979 and Space 1999. There's lots of bits and pieces on the weaponry of these shows and their application into an OSR retrofuture campaign. For me the Battle Star Galactica Colonial laser blaster was worth the price of admission because of the details of this weapon. This isn't an elegant weapon, its one that was designed to take out armored non CGI Cylons in battle gear. Players wanted details on this weapon and this book has a pretty solid break down of the original props.

The  Starlog Photo Guidebook:Weapons also has a whole section on the original Flash Gordon serials and series along with the weapons for reference.Given the fact that pulp magazines and retro science fantasy campaigns are white hot right now this is another section that has some top shelf potential for the right Dungeon master. The Star Trek sections follows from the original series up through the Star Trek The Motion Picture weapon systems. And proves a nice overview.


So how can this material be used by a DM for a fast adventure turn around using this Starlog resource? Easily this material can provide a DM who needs to pepper a retro future adventure with sci fi relics and artifacts along with back fitted Easter Eggs for their favorite retro post apocalyptic or sci fi adventures. The Starlog Photo Guidebook:Weapons has you covered.



Once upon a time Starlog and Starlog Photo Guidebooks were the only game in town for a sci fi fan long before the internet was even a twinkle in the eye of a defense contractor and the Army. The magazine always sat next to my copy of Traveler and Gamma World first edition. So this book is an echo from another time but its got plenty to offer the enterprising DM who wants to cash in on that retro future and sci fi vibe of yesteryear.

Classic Free Sci Fi Reference - Starlog Photo Guidebook: Spaceships New Enlarged Edition! For Your Old School Campaigns

The Starlog Photo Guides are a relic from another era, the Starlog Photo Guidebook: Spaceships covers many of the spacecraft from the classic sci fi science fiction eras of the Fifties to the Eighties from motion pictures, television, and science fiction. As a reference for retroclone sci fi dungeon masters and players this provides a really wonderful work for inspiration, possible adventure locations, and retro sci fi gaming. 

Grab It HERE

As a free download this Starlog Photo guidebook, this version has been enlarged for easier detail and reference for the reader. This version of the book covers everything from the original Buck Rogers spacecraft to the Star Trek The Motion picture making it a rather impressive book clocking in at ninety eight pages including full color spreads of space craft from Close Encounters, Star Trek, Star Wars, The Black Hole, and more. This book also includes spacecraft from the classic era of television as well with years including 1949 thru 1959. The more modern eras include 1970 thru 1980 include full color spreads of Battlestar Galactica, Alien, and cult classics like the First Men In The Moon. The bibliography is damn impressive and worth the price of admission alone.
  According to Wiki  the history of Starlog is one tinged with sci fi history-
"Starlog was a monthly magazine devoted to science fiction films, television series, and books published by Starlog Group, Inc. One of the longest-running and most popular publications of its type, the magazine was created in 1976 by publishers Kerry O'Quinn and Norman Jacobs. Starlog was one of the first publications to report on the development of the first Star Wars movie, and it also followed the development of what was to eventually become Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

Many fans^[who?] of the long-running magazine considered its heyday to have been the 1980s, with very little substance to the content in later years, and many of its long-time contributors having since moved on. But it continued to boast some top-flight genre journalists, including film historians Will Murray, Jean-Marc Lofficier, and Tom Weaver."


So what makes the Starlog Photo Guidebook: Spaceships valuable to the sci fi retro gamer? Well besides having all of the various space craft of classic era sci fi at your finger tips, it provides a valuable window into another era of science fiction and science fantasy motion pictures. It can also provide tons and tons of possible relic space craft for adventure locations and settings all in one place and allows a DM to have instant inspiration at their finger tips. These books were from another era of science fiction fandom when there wasn't an internet and sci fi fans had to do a bit of rooting around. This book puts everything right into your hands for easy access.

Some ideas for using this book include using the Photo guidebook's more obscure sci fi space craft as used vehicles for a sci fi campaign at used space craft lots, as possible derelict space craft in space grave yards, this book could serve as a reference point for various space ships and craft around Sargasso of space locations & even other ideas. Other ideas are use for domain level play where high level cosmic or interstellar craft are used for adventure play. The possibilities for this book are only limited by your imagination.

Review and Commentary On CC1: Creature Compendium From New Big Dragon For Your Old School Campaigns

Do you need monsters fast for tonight's game or shall we say something unique to torment your adventurers? Something to slip in between the cracks of  your ruin or sci fi base? Well,the Creature Compendium has you covered. 

Grab It Right Over
HERE

There are monster books and then there are those monster catalogs that include stuff you wished you'd thought of as a DM. Well, the Creature Compendium is one of those. And if your thinking that this book can't be used with your AD&D 1st edition or OSRIC games then think again. According to the company's website: Creature Compendium for OD&D, AD&D, and B/X D&D. This 92 page supplement has a host of new creatures to harass your players with. This thing is wall to wall artwork by Richard Leblanc Jr.  And its very well done, this is a dual statted book and I know what your thinking, so what big deal? Well it means that you can use any of these critters right out of the gate upon your adventurers. Each monster is "dual" stated for 0e/1e and BX. Sometimes there is no difference. For example an AC of 3 in AD&D is roughly an AC 3 in BX and the monsters will either list 3 or some other close number. Movement rates are easy to convert of course and alignments are different systems& edition, but all in all it is still easy to convert. 
The Pdf clocks in at about 92 pages for two dollars and the monsters are well worth the pdf and man these things could easily be incorporated into a wide variety of games or campaigns. 
 And all of these monsters are perfectly suited for a wide variety of dungeon environs but that's not all. Many of these horrors are straight up generic enough yet weird enough to go right into a post apocalyptic wasteland or better yet your favorite space based dungeon. Seriously there is a ton of potential and I love the way that you get your money's worth out of this product. Using these with White Star or Swords and Wizardry would be a snap as these monsters have a very old world pulp quality to them. 
 Look this is exactly the sort of book that I need for tonight's game, monsters pulpy enough to fit into any environment but different enough to give the PC's pause and make them come up with a plan for the horror's demise.  And these monster's are not going to go down easily, they're capable of taking out an entire party of adventurers with relative easy if the party isn't careful. There's a lot of potential here for TPK's if the players' are not paying attention to the monster's patterns,behaviors, and attacks. These horrors don't follow the usual monster biology BS that so many writers slip into the background. The author knows his stuff and keeps things busy and interesting in the background of the design of the critter's. Several of these horrors could be mini adventures into themselves and here's where I mentioned White Star or one of the sci fi retroclones being very useful for a quick night's one shot using these things. 
 With the revive on the post apocalyptic front these horrors could easily be slipped into the back drop of an advanced Mutants and Maze's game of Mutant Future. Of particular use is Appendix A gives the DM  Treasure Types by Edition. 0e, 1e, HB and BX. There are subtle differences in each, but  it's easy to convert between each. Appendix B gives us the monster XP totals for various editions as well. 0e, S&W, BX/BEDMI, LL, 1e and OSRIC. These are essential elements that I wish, wish other retroclone systems would incorporate as well.  The bottom line is this grab the damn book right now and don't wait, for the price this is really a no brainer. Five out of five because its so well done and I can't find fault with it. 

Using The Petty Gods OSR Resource Book For Your Old School Science Fiction or Science Fantasy Campaigns

Petty Gods has been unleashed on an unsuspecting OSR and rpg public, they've taken to it as the grand resource that it is. There are over four hundred pages of incredible old school goodness but can this sucker be used for other stuff besides the usual  fantasy or sword & sorcery campaign? 

The answer is a resounding yes you can! And then some. Petty  Gods contains divine and semi divine creatures drawn from across the bright and scattered bits of  pop culture, imagination, major writers, fans, and every damn part of the collective landscape of fiction that the authors could. This was a community effort and a major undertaking for Greg Gorgonmilk, Richard Leblanc, and co.
Before I even begin here's all of the ordering information: 

Links and pricing via Richard LeBlanc, PG's editor-in-chief and a major contributor to this work:

Petty Gods: Revised & Expanded Edition (Casewrap Hardback) $22.47 (USD at cost)

Petty Gods: Revised & Expanded Edition (Premium Softcover) $13.22 (USD at cost)

Petty Gods: Revised & Expanded Edition (PDF: no watermark) FREE

Time,space, and all of reality are the providence of the gods of this massive work and they're not something to be taken lightly. Say your space heroes are cruising across the galaxy,collecting treasure, exploring strange new worlds, boldly going where no man has gone before when suddenly you run smack into a high handed alien pantheon. Suddenly your party  runs into 

Amber Blood Sword

(petty goddess of battle blood-lust and feminine protection)

Titles : The Amber Protector, The Great Vindicator
There are going to be some real issues if your crew happens to be dealing rotten with some of those green alien maidens or princesses.  Or Aspix

(petty god of the Butcher’s Alley*) by Glen Hallstrom who happens to resemble a certain murderous entity from a much beloved science fiction cult classic show but there are other rather nasty circumstances that go with this entity. Another horror that might send a crew packing is God of the Iron Urn (petty god of madness and sacrifice) by Geoffrey McKinney that has some dangerous connotations for a star ship crew and could affect an entire adventure by itself. 

So let me crack a beer and tell you right off that there's no need to order some other add on book for Petty Gods in order to use this book with your favorite science fiction or fantasy retroclone or old school setting. All of the guidelines are already in the book right at the beginning chapters of the PDF. You can use this wonderful book with original D&D, Swords & Wizardry, etc quite easily and that is the beauty of the book. Imagine your playing Gamma World or Metamorphosis Alpha first edition and your party happens to find a giant stone head that covers a very juicy and treasure laden set of ruins? One of your mutant adventurers wants to smash into the the interior of the head and pilfer the contents within. You might actually be facing down Azwa (protector of giant stone heads in the wilderness) Titles : The Protector of Giant Stone Heads in

the Wilderness, The Head of Heads by Thomas Denmark. But what will this god's reaction be? Well here's where Petty God's shines because like the Judge's Guild product The Unknown Gods from which Petty God's takes its old school lessons from. There's a random reaction table for this god, and suddenly things are about to get very interesting in the post apocalyptic landscape. 

And right in the middle of all of these wonderful divine entities that can really complicate the lives of your adventurers are a pack of  lesser known Cthulhu related entities - Cthulhu (mythos)

Please see individual entries related to the Cthulhu mythos.

Related Entries : G) Bokrug, Chaugnar Faugn,Nug, Quachil

Uttaus, Rhan-Tegoth, Yeb; M) Being of Ib, Formless Spawn,

Guardian of Laam, Hound of Tindalos, Miri-Nigri, Voormi

All of these are very well done and just waiting to be added and dropped right into the backdrop of your space going campaign. From Realms of Crawling Chaos to Goblinoid games to a handy little campaign of White Star, these entities are solidly done and with all of the handy little add ons that you need to run their cults, servants, treasures, story hooks, and more. There's even Robert Howard's Crom lurking and brooding in between the pages. Just waiting to be unleashed.
But these beings are called Petty Gods surely they can't affect a star ship? Let me introduce you to Chicxulub (petty god of decaying orbits) by John Everett Till who can easily ruin a crew's day or week on star ship such as those found in Stars Without Number. How will she react to your crew of adventurers? Roll on the reaction table to find out. If you want someone or something truly alien and weird I recommend Cunnian

(petty god of potential knowledge) for those pointy eared and logical types of adventurers and know it all's. By Mike “Carlson” Davis, she or he seems above the petty concerns of gender, sex, race,etc.. And is here to observe and create its own universe whist monkeying with ours. According to the entry : 

The truth, unknown to all save Cunnian, is that she is a god

from another universe, and has come to ours for the purpose of

creating a universe of his own. To that end, Cunnian appears

on the Material Plane regularly, observing the local conditions

and then changing some aspect of it to see what results, seeking

ever for the combination of traits that best appeal to her as the

basis for his universe.
Needless to say that this could be very, very dangerous for adventurers and she might fit right at home in a session of Lamentations of The Flame Princess or even Star Ships and Space Men second edition keeping a star ship crew confused and dangerously close to the edge of reality in the local space time continuum.
Pity the crew of adventurers who encounter  Diplodias (petty god of crop rot and poor harvests) by Dave Traube for this god is perfect for a game of Mutant Future or any old school post apocalyptic campaign where food is a matter of life and death. On a colony world this god might be a nightmare of epic proportions. While Divine Worm (petty god of stillborn infants) by Logan Knight could be a nightmare for and a reason that a failed colony is waiting in the darkness. While  Drasheeng (petty god of drunken misperception) by Trey Causey might just give that roaming star ship captain a run for his money and a real headache.
Elder Elementals are one of the many monsters that has incredible potential for planetary adventure applications from terraforming to acting as a planetary guardian of some ancient ruins. These monsters could give even high level adventurers pause. They're very dangerous and completely alien.
Expiurge (petty gods of chaos embound) is perfect entity for those crystalline aliens that seem all the rage today to worship. This entity by Porky is a really nasty bit of completely alien business. Speaking of alien gods how about using the Patchwork god by Colin Chapman as the head god for your population of androids or golems.
The Minions, Servants, and Knights chapter is a really fine example of mid level pantheon entities who could cause all kinds of potential misfortune and misadventures for space going or science fantasy adventurers. According to the introduction: 

Almost as old as the stories of the gods themselves are the

stories of the servants of the gods. In fact, the Mesopotamians

believed that human beings were created simply so the gods

would have servants.

     Which is exactly the sort of entities that PC's will meet should their space craft or adventurers get a wee bit too close to the edge of the workings of creation. Those places and planes where the seams of the great machine of creation show through. These entities should be used with caution because even more then they're masters. These beings are very dangerous. As Crichton from Farscape says, "Godlike aliens! Man, do I hate godlike aliens. I'll trade a critter for a godlike alien any day." A good example of such an entity that party's of adventurers might be running into is Giant Space Baby by Jonas Mustonen. Because unlike a certain space child from 2001 A Space Odyssey these things will serve various master's causing all kinds of mayhem and life changing bits for a party of adventurers. There are far, far, too many fantastic entities to taunt,torture, and bedevil adventurers with in this section. Seriously this section alone would make a perfect old school semi divine monster manual into itself. Remember how when Deities and Demi gods came out no one would actually use the damn book as the resource it was intended for? Well this section into itself has enough entities that you could run an entire Trek's worth of campaign and still comeback for more. 

     Right which brings us to the divine item section of the book, these are the toys,tools, tricks and items that god's use and adventurers are bound to encounter. Here's in some remote corner of the dimensional darkness or far flung alien plane is where many of these entity's toys are likely to be encountered. Many of these items are adventures unto themselves and the Petty God's book is full of a solid number of items that could completely change the landscape for a party of adventurers. Everything from the Eyes to rings of divine aspect are in this section and these items could give a party of high level adventurers a run for their gold pieces. These are the sorts of items that pre code horror and science fantasy comics thrived on in spades! Some excellent stuff in this section. 

 The spell section is like something out of the early days of the old school rpg hobby. Many of these spells cross right over into the realm of science fantasy easily. There is a bunch of Barsoom related spells that words can't describe the divine happiness I have reading these. Simply a great load of spells that could easily change the direction of campaign. Some of these could crack the spine of a Star Knight with relative easy and give a party in Hulks and Horror's nightmares. Of special mention is the Jale God by Matthew W. Schmeer. Just go and read all of the sections on this god and its spells, appendix and more. You won't be disappointed and its so nice for use with a science fantasy campaign.
 There is a whole campaign's worth of Barsoomian material in this book as well. The Gods of Barsoom by Michael Curtis have a very well done section which includes gods, spells, items, and more. Each of the spells in this section relates back to its referencing god and these are not simply for clerics but wizards, druids, etc. 
   The appendixes and Indices are worth their weight in god pieces for science fiction and science fantasy campaigns. These sections include the essay How To Start A Religion In Your Spare Time For Fun and Profit By M.A.R. Barker, this is an essential read for anyone wanting to use religions within old school campaigns and provides everything from set up to guidelines for running such within the frame work of a campaign. 

Gods of Barsoom is everything it sounds and puts the divinities of Edgar Rice Burroughs classics right into the waiting hands of a DM. By Michael Curtis this is a real treat to have access to as DM.

Legends and lore of the Jale God is mind blowing and provides a DM with all of the essentials of running this entity within the bounds of a campaign.
Petty Foods of the Petty Gods is a section of truly mind blowing details of food stuffs from the tables of the gods and any of these could play havoc with an adventure party but even one with access to the super science of space based games might be very hard pressed to handle the effects of some of these.
Rounding out the book is a section of Petty God's Classified by Matthew W. Schmeer reminds me of some of the Bloody, Bloody Arduin or Dragon Tree press material and could provide an adventuring party in a space tavern or other other dimensional location a number of adventure hooks right into the deep end of Petty Gods. 

Review and Commentary On The Free OSR Dragonfoot Resource - Foot Print's Issue #3

Grab It Right
HERE
When I need a set of monsters for an old school AD&D first edition style game I often turn once again to Dragon's foot. Here we take a quick look into issue three of Footprints. 

From The Dragon's Foot Blurb :
Stop The Goblin Raid (adventure)
The Nasty NPC Competition - The Thing
The Nasty NPC Competition - Delorn
Gigger (monster)
Allaru (monster)
Uttuku (monster)
Retherians (race) 
Online Gaming:Play by Email (article)
UK4: When a Star Falls (review)

This is quick issue filled with monster after monster that can be easily adapted into a wide variety of old school games. This issue is nice because the monsters can fit into any number of retroclone style adventures and still be useful couple this fact with the Stop The Goblin Raid adventure and this is a great free old school download. Stop The Goblin Raid (adventure) -This is a nice quick introduction or mid level adventure that can easily be adapted into Labyrinth Lord or your favorite old school game. 
The Nasty NPC Competition - The Thing - This is a very cool little monster that I've used several times in X plorers as a side line adventure for players and as an encounter with Mutant Future. 
The Nasty NPC Competition - Delorn - This one makes a good mid point monster encounter for a wide variety of old school games or as a one shot science fantasy adventure encounter. 
Gigger (monster)- High weirdness and fun for the whole party with this monster. 
Allaru (monster) - this is one of those monster encounters that can keep a party of adventurers very busy and still be a challenge for a wide variety of levels. 
Uttuku (monster) -This is one that actually  writes itself for adventures. 
Retherians (race) - As a race this is a great race for either Stars Without Numbers or as an Xplorers encounter. 
Online Gaming:Play by Email (article)
UK4: When a Star Falls (review) - A really nice review that features one of my favorite original adventures from the UK series that I once upon a time played at the Traveling Man in the U.K.
I think that this one of the solid Foot print download issues and it makes a great addition in an old school  DM's arsenal.
More coming up.