1d20 Random Weird Space Treasures Table For Venger Satanis's Alpha Blue Rpg System Or Your Old School Campaigns

There are many treasures in the depths of interstellar space and between the planes, things that are better left not found actually by the unsteady hands of adventurers and outlaws in the depths of space. Things and relics that are often used to pay the usual rabble of facilitators and shape shifting hookers.



For more powerful or dangerous Alpha Blue adventures allow PC's to roll once on the table below for a minor relic to use for adventuring.

1d20 Random  Weird Space Treasures Table

1. The golden gallbladder of Emperor Po, this object enables the owner to purify 40 pounds of air and water almost instantly once a day but the thing weighs twenty pounds and seems to get heavier each time its used. Worth 60,000 bucks it currently has been MIA for six years after being stolen by Vermont Smith who thought it belonged in a museum and not storage unit of a space hooker. 
2. The artificial diamond of Virgin Purpose  was once owned by the Holy Order of Manhood part of the church of Orthodox  Pure Aggression. The diamond mystically creates the perfect artificial reality mate for its owner whom they can't have sexual congress with. The item is cursed and tortures its owner with visions and partially real androids of these visions only to make them impotent and powerless in these visions presence. The owner can and will fly into a berserk rage when going into battle as these visions drive them to the edge of sanity and beyond. 
3. The ring of Ta'rdfu this ring uses alien super science to bath its target's in strange colours from beyond the spectrum of reality. Targets must save vs wands or find that their existences are meaningless and devoid of existence. They may 10% try to commit suicide as the soul crushing realizations of the greater dimensional reality come crashing in on them. 
4. The sword of no when beautifully gilded and jeweled alien sword can mystically cut the cord between a body and soul. The person will be alive but subject to all kinds of astral parasites and demonic creatures. Victims often beg for their attackers to kill them before the terrors from beyond take them and destroy their souls utterly. 
5. The vase of Ko - This vase has been stopped up and sealed with brine maiden and swamp dragon wax. The vase contains a demonic Wri elemental demon that will attack the owner or a target directed by the owner. The vase can be used three times per day.
6. The rod of false intention this rod can be used to create a charm spell three times per day and allow its owner to get away with bloody murder. If the owner tries to use this relic to violate the sexual mores or nature of another being a demon lord comes for their soul. This relic has been used as a clever method for murder several times throughout the centuries. 
7. Pressure gun - This weird and futuristic weapon projects a beam of energy within a twenty foot range of this weapon creating a micro dimensional gate pressure wave that does 3d6 +1 points of damage as the first two inches are warped or changed. There are only four of these weapons in existence. 
8. Total Eclipse of the Heart Locket  this locket removes the heart from the owner and places it in null space allowing the owner to not feel any pain from damage even as they slowly bleed out from the damage. The locket allows the owner to pass through dimensions of sanity wrecking and soul destroying vistas of hellscapes without ruining their sanity. 
9. The Scroll of Order this scroll contains signs and symbols of protection by tapping into the fabric of order that under lays the great works that under lays the tombs of the Elder Ones. When unrolled this scroll will float in mid air and give a +2 on all attacks on Chaotic alien beasts. 
10. Remote of Rewind - This remote will allow the owner to rewind twelve seconds of time once per week. Used more then that and it could wreck the cosmos. 
11. The Other Frame - This picture frame like device allows one to gaze deeply into nearby dimensions of time and space, once per week the owner may travel to these locations. Getting back is whole other matter however. 
12. Condom of Cosmic Calamity -This used condom contains the essence of demonic sperm from some ancient demonic overlord. The thing may be used to breed an army of 1d30 cloned warriors of an evil infernal nature. 
13. +3 rolling pin of doom encrusted with ancient alien gems, its origin is unknown but the thing works on trolls as well.   
14. Solomon's Bottle of Demonic Fun this brass stoppered bottle contains 1d4 demonic entities that can be commanded once a week to serve the owner. There is a 30% chance that one of these horrors will try to eat or possess the owner. 
15. The Other Key this key allows the owner to teleport without error within line of sight three times per day. If used for more then that the owner may 20% chance disappear into a hellish other dimension! 
16. The Knife That Makes Jagged Cuts this knife has been sharped by blind Elven mages and allows one to cut between places thus allowing 1d4 minor demonic imps to attack victims within forty yards of the owner. 
17. The Bell of Bo Wri - When rung this bell is rung all with a thirty foot radius are subject to a fear spell like effect. Beings of order and law must roll vs wands or be at -2 for all attack and skill rolls. 
18. The God's Spine a techno organic spine of some minor ancient god that acts as +2 weapon. The thing laughs when used on minor demons and their ilk,. 
19. Rod of Cosmic Dread - Those hit by this rod's azure ray are subject to -4 on all rolls once a week. The weapon can also act as a +1 weapon of order. Those who are aligned to ancient gods had better watch out. 
20. The Bleeding Book Blasphemy  this spell book contains over 60 major arcane black magick spells and is often used to counter the ancient summoning of minor demonic lords and ladies. These spells may rebuke or with a 20% chance banish a minor dread lord of the Darkness

Retro Review Thieves World Roleplaying Game (Boxed Set) By Greg Stafford For Your Old School Campaigns

Wayback in the annals of time in the misty years of the Eighties, Chaosium had author Greg Stafford release a glorious box set of the Thieves World sword and sorcery material. Thieves World was completely shared world that worked along a Gygaxian NPC ecology. Wiki has a decent break down of the set up for it;"Thieves' World is a shared world fantasy series created by Robert Lynn Asprin in 1978. The original series comprised twelve anthologies, including stories by such science fiction authors as Poul Anderson, John Brunner, Andrew J. Offutt, C. J. Cherryh, Janet Morris, and Chris Morris." Here's the complete byline for the series of novels:

"Thieves' World is set in the city of Sanctuary, located at the edge of the Rankan Empire. The city is depicted as a place where many are downtrodden and where the invading Rankan gods and the Ilsigi gods they had ousted begin a struggle for primacy. As the series continues, additional invasions occur, and the city is taken over by the snake-worshipping Beysib as the Rankan empire collapses. Over time, a number of the characters in the series are revealed either to be the offspring of or otherwise blessed by various figures in the pantheons of the competing cultures, and they discover or develop various powers as the series progresses"



"Skulk through the night on the heels of Shadowspawn . . . delve into the twisted tunnels of the Purple Mage . . . attend the court (or perhaps the harem) of Prince Kadakithis . . . dodge the keen-eyed Hell Hounds with Jubal's Hawkmasks . . . drink your ale and guard your purse at the Vulgar Unicorn . . . boldly walk the streets of the wildest, most varied, and most downright fascinating city in fantasy literature - SANCTUARY, the Thieves' World! * The Players' Guide to Sanctuary - the creation of Sanctuary; Thud and Blunder, Sanctuary chronology; 'Hakiem' and 'The Hell Hounds'; a stroll through the city; a captured llsigi document; magic, working ladies, and oaths; glossary /pronunciation guide; a map of the known world; a city map. * The Game Master's Guide to Sanctuary - palm-greasing and arrest procedures; a secret Carronnian report; city gods and religions; main city encounters; encounters for the Jewelers' Quarter, Processional, and Westside; 18 tables of specific encounters, descriptions/encounters for The Maze, Bazaar, Street of Red Lanterns, Downwind; business generators and tables by area; 6 area maps, 15 floorplans of typical buildings (including the Vulgar Unicorn); scenario suggestions. * The Personalities of Sanctuary - story/character index; system notes as applicable and character stats for 9 RPG systems (minimum of twenty characters each, each system divided to Prince and Retinue. Transients, and Residents); general descriptions of other characters. * Wall Map of Sanctuary. Referee Maps of The Maze, The Maze underground."



Back in 1981 Chaosium published one of the most under rated box sets ever to come out. It had everything you the dungeon master could want! "The Thieves' World Complete Sanctuary Adventure Pack is a boxed set published by Chaosium in 1981, containing: 1) The Player's Guide to Sanctuary; 2) The Gamemaster's Guide to Sanctuary; 3) Personalities of Sanctuary; 4) Map of Sanctuary; 5) Map of the Maze; 6) Map of the Maze Underground"  Did I also happen to mention it was cross compatible with AD&D first edition, Stormbringer, Tunnels and Trolls, Runequest and many others? No? Well no this box set doesn't get mentioned too much because it was a highly successful in my neck of the woods so much so that it spawned a companion in eighty six.


""The Thieves' World stories began in 1979, to instant acclaim. Not long after, Chaosium published a boxed Thieves' World roleplaying supplement which garnered awards and more acclaim. Since the first book hit the newstands, more than 2200 paperback pages and eight additional Thieves' World volumes have been printed - a phenomenon others imitate but cannot duplicate. Sanctuary, the town too mean to die, has changed little from the time it first saw print, but many new characters now stride the city's streets, pillage the foolish in its alleys, and connive in its back rooms. Lalo, Ischade, Roxanne, Niko, Mradhon Vis, The Beysa, Chenaya, Zip, and many more have come to life, and are now included in the Companion's full character stats for the RQ3 and MERPs systems. New essays consider Rankan, Ilsigi, Beysib, and Outsider deities in the light of further tales of Sanctuary, that place which is the funnel of the gods and the eye of the Rankan hurricane. The excellent encounter tables from the Thieves' World box have been revised to reflect later events and personalities, and are presented here in full. There are also floor-by-floor isometrics of the Great Dungeon. Though adjacent to Kitty-Cat's palace, nobody seems to go there. Now you can study its defenses and understand why. Alone or along with the Thieves' World box, the Companion rekindles the fabulous world of Sanctuary - Thieves' World."" So could the material in these box sets still be used today? Guess what they are! Many of the Connecticut dungeon masters that I know never gave this material up at all and went on to use it for many games including Traveler. Yes there was a conversion for that game already worked into the box set. You got stats and work ups for of such characters as;
* Shadowspawn- a master thief that finds himself in the middle of a web meant to catch another...
* Prince Kadakithis- the brother to the emperor he is a political threat so he has been sent to San to bring order, or to meet a more gruesome end...
* Myrtis- the most powerful and beautiful madam in Thieves' World she will do whatever it takes to protect her girls and their way of life, even if that means bargaining away a bit of her soul...

I've used this box set several times with Lamentations of the Flame Princess and Dark Albion but its always been as a place where the PC's have visited as dimensional travelers who have had to watch their step. The fact is guns haven't been that much of an equalizer and in fact there are several things in the set that can cause some vicious horror aspects into a campaign of LoFP.




You got a ton of material that could be inserted into many old school sword and sorcery  campaigns and would be a perfect addition into an Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea campaign. There would be a bit of  twisting and converting but this material would fit  in spades. This comes from another time before Advanced Dungeons and Dragons was so  controlled. The spirit of these earlier styles of games is evident throughout the box set and you have to give a bit of respect for the editing slight of hand that went into many of the NPC's and descriptions in this box set. Is it still useful? Well it most certainly is and the material is a bit dated though because portions of the shared world anthology have moved on. That being said there was far more sense of fun and vile purpose about this series of books then say Game Of Thrones. Many of the authors were from the foundations of the sword and sorcery literary movement in the Sixties and Seventies so there was whole cloth feel to this box set as well as some of the products in the line. I used this box set with many of the Judge's Guild and Arduin materials switching in and out what I needed and wanted. The city of Sancutary could easily be ported into a region of inner Hyperborea or even better used on its own and used as a location that the PC's could potentially visit.

Now Available ! GBE7 The time a tree saved me.Gang Busters Adventure & Welcome to Rock Junction Adventure Source Book By Mark Hunt

 So now both adventures 'Welcome to Rock Junction' &  GBE7 "The time a tree saved me"  have both gone on sale  for the Gangbusters rpg have gone on sale. Basically these two adventures take the Gangbusters rpg in a new and very interesting 1920's Noir pulp crime direct while remaining true to the games roots.

GRAB THEM RIGHT HERE

GBE7 The time a tree saved me. from  Mark Hunt   is a full on investigative detective style adventure with the potential for lots of action and crime filled adventure for the PC's. It takes full advantage of the Gangbusters rpg for action and actual investigative work on the PC's part. Here's the description from Drivethrurpg;"This is a 2nd level Encounter for Gangbusters RPG

Don Cole had been working this case for three weeks, and now he just wanted to be off of it. His feet hurt and he needed a drink. He liked the job and he was good at it. There were times, however, when he didn't enjoy the things he had to do.  This looked to be one of those times.
After all this time he had found the kidnappers, Holed up in a house at the edge of town. He stopped to call for help and moved in to keep an eye on them.  He could make out three of them sitting calm as you please on a car that had more holes in it than a piece of swiss cheese.
He pulled out his trusty .38, but on one side of the house stood a Tough with a tommy gun and on the other a pretty girl with a derringer in her hand. Using the trees for cover, he got as close as he dared and called to them to drop their weapons. This was going to be one of those days . . ."

This all comes through with a price tag of two dollars and is a nice two tier adventure for those who have played the game or are new to the system. It works very well for what it does and works a perfect introduction to the new adventure location elements and action of the campaign setting. Welcome to Rock Junction introduces a whole new city with new problems and lots of pulpy NPC's, locations, settings, and possible crimes for your Gangbusters campaigns.


The Drivethrurpg write up gives you some idea of the depths of crime ridden scum and horror that your PC's are going to be experiencing in Rock Junction; "Welcome to Rock Junction!

Rock Junction is a Steel town sixty miles from the sprawling, brawling metropolis of Lakefront City located somewhere in the American Midwest. Rock Junction serves as a  town the players can get to know and explore or they may head off to the life in the big city.
The Midwest dread sometimes seized hold of Jon and refused to let go, especially on mornings like this one. The pale sun struggled to hoist itself above the infinite sea of corn. Jon could empathize. He sleepily stumbled down his driveway, his terrier, Ben, bouncing along at his heels. When he arrived to his fence, he saw that his mailbox had been destroyed. The metal box sat on the ground, crumpled like a piece of paper, with all of his mail shredded, aside from one nicotine colored piece of a paper with an ominous black handprint on it.
  His hand ached from coiling it into a fist too tightly. The accident had taken a toll on his ability to do his job, and work at the fabrication shop had been slow. His family’s finances were dwindling down to nothing. Jon knew what the black hand signified. Everyone in Rock Junction knew damn well what it meant, too—pay up a portion of your monthly income, or something unpleasant is going to happen. One might have their car set ablaze in a grocery store parking lot, or their family might be harassed and brutalized in countless unmentionable ways, or one might even leave their home to run an errand and never return, only to turn up sixty miles away on the Lakefront City riverbank or in some nameless back alley with their neck sliced from ear to ear and their tongue pulled through the tactless incision. Truly, nobody in the little steel town had gone untouched by The Black Hand Society. "
Even though this is only a twelve page sourcebook its packed with lots of tid bits that can be used for a wide variety of games as well as Gangbusters and it take things in a number of new directions and lays everything wide open on the table. The PC's are not going to know what hit them going into this campaign setting. My recommendation is to get these today and make your menacing Monday a high tension playground!

Retro Review For Ready Ref Sheets (1978) From Judges Guild For Advanced Dungeons and Dungeons & Your Old School Campaigns

Back in 1978 when I was but a very young dungeon master learning my craft at the knee of my dad's buddy who was retired RAF. I was in awe of the Judge's Guild Ready Refer Sheets. These were the only thing he would have at the table with him when he was world building along with his AD&D first edition Dungeon Master's Guide. The process was pretty simple and its one that I continue to follow today. Read Arduin, Delos,etc your inspirational material then take the Ready Refer Sheets plus the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Dungeon Master's Guide and begin writing.
GRAB IT RIGHT HERE

Now that I'm far older and look at this book of awesomeness there is a ton of sexism and
Pages 5-6 of this supplement are some of the worst. A section  with the simple heading "WOMEN," is possibly the most sexist thing I've read in a gaming supplement ever. It goes into guidelines for keeping woman happy all kinds of amusing things that had the other half reading this book aloud and laughing her head off. This is from another time period and wasn't meant to be taken serious and I'm a feminist so there we are. That being said there are some incredibly useful items in the sheets that even today I continue to use.

  Here's a listing of the contents thanks to Wayne's Books  and as you can see there is a ton of awesome here to cherry pick for world building;"

Table of Contents

Page 2   Social Level/City Encounter

3     Lists of Heirarchies

4     Social Level explanation, Slavery, Quarters

5     Women

6     Women, Oaths & Promises

7     Proclamations, High Treason, Boons & Duties, Wills

8     Crime, Trial & Punishment

9     Verdicts & Punishments

10     Punishments, Advertising

11     Advertising

12     Exchange Rates, Metals & Gem Types

13     Beggars, Characteristics, Shock Recovery

14     Guards & Garrison Troops, Offensive Locution- Repartee & Witicisms

15     Poison Types

16     Attack Reasons, Companions, Special Encounters

17     Surprise in Encounters, Phantasmal Forces, Time Required, Weapon Priority

18     Construction Costs & Time Required

19     Wizards Guide to Weapon Enchantment, Wands, Rings & Potions

20     Rudimentary Resurection Results, Startling Statues

21     Wayward Waters, Sink or Swim

22     Sharks & Sea Monsters, Precious Pearls

23     Monster Compendium (continued on 24 & repeated again on 33 & 34)

25     Character Checklist (4 copies)

27     Men Attacking (repeated again on 29 & 52)

28     Chainmail's Man-to-Man Melee table (repeated on 30)

35     Underwater Encounter Tables

36     Wishes & Limited Wishes, Quests & Geas

37     Hirelings, NPC Cutups, Negotiation, Morale

38     Income, Civilization & Technological Levels, Population Density, Baronies

39     Trade Guide, Caves & Lairs

42     Searching

43     Ravaged Ruins

45     Keen Sighting, Hydrographic Terrain

46     Prosperous Prospecting, Triumphant Grand Tactical

47     Movement Obstacles

48     Weeds, Flowers, Vegetables, Herbs & Molds

49     Trees

50     Fauna

51     Monsters Attacking

52     Men Attacking

53     Index

54     Listing of Judges Guild Products

  I know what your thinking that this is simply wall to wall charts and I'm from the dawn of time during the Seventies so only I would find this book useful. Well this book allows one to have guidelines for constructing a castle or elven tree fortress, rules for using beggars as an information network, a "Buffoon" sub-class of fighter that actually works, a ton of weird magical statue tables and more.

  For sword and sorcery Arduin style world building this is one of my go too pieces of full on old school fun and games. This piece of Judge's Guild material I find incredibly useful and a great companion to many of the retroclone systems on the market especially OSRIC and Labyrinth Lord Advanced Companion play.

 This material plus some of the stuff from the Pegasus magazine coupled with the AD&D Dungeon Master Guide allowed me to build numerous campaigns over the years. Th alignment system is a relic from another time as well but its optionally like many of the pieces in here.

  There is a ton here to mine and the material can easily be used with OD&D as well including retroclone OD&D systems  or Basic D&D (Holmes or Moldvay)with little to no problem. This also means that the material can be used to supplement Lamentations of the Flame Princess or Dark Albion with no one being the wiser. I've done this mid stream at least twice when the PC's were on the border of the Middle East and in Spain for certain adventure circumstances. The book saved my bacon twice for those games.

  You get everything you need for encounter charts in different environments and monster placement. A complete list and stats for all of the monsters from the Seventies in one easy to use place which if your play Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea has been very handy when the PC's are crossing worlds and dimension hopping.

  The castles and construction costs plus charts within the structure work well with many of the various editions and there's plenty to recommend how things are put together and seeing the meshing of the various JG systems.

 This material comes from a time when the hobby was still forming itself and it shows in table after table of random material that both services a DM on two levels. One it gives solid on the fly guidelines for decisions and two it gives a DM a bench mark for creating their own tables. I can see this book being used at convention sets of play where things have to decided right now!

 Is this book perfect? Hell no not at all it was never meant to be but its not something to be sneered at. This book gives some weird bits its true but its an old favorite because its still relevant to the hobby even today.

 Part of the fun of using random tables when running a game is seeing what crazy logic you have to use to tie it all together.  The Ready Ref Sheets even has ruins tables making it perfect for Gamma World, Metamorphosis Alpha 1st edition, Mutant Future and Dungeon Crawl Classics. In fact I've used this book twice with DCC during play and the play continued quite nicely. Just goes to show you that just because something is old doesn't make it any less useful. 

1d20 Random Blood, Rust, and Weird Characteristics For Magick Weapons Table For Your Old School Or Alpha Blue Rpg Campaigns

Spend some time aboard Alpha Blue and you'll eventually find a pawn shop or two where facilitators have traded in or dumped off items and relics from clients and adventurers.

In Alpha Blue not every one pays with credits or space bucks, some poor souls come from other places and times where the wars of Chaos and blood rage across the landscape. These adventurers often leave behind weapons of magick and order as payment for a facilitator's favors and sexual congress. Other weapons are sold in one of the numerous pawn shops across the station. These weapons often resound with the blood and thunder of the battles that they have fought in and now long for masters to wield them once again in battle.



1d20 Random Blood, Rust,
and Weird Characteristics For Magick Weapons Table

1. The weapon has picked up stray magical energies that course through it and once a day it will expel a bolt of eye searing magic for 1d6 points of energy at anyone within a twenty foot radius of the owner. The energy roils and courses along the blade for reasons of their own. The blade will glow blue and purple before the discharge. The blade smells of pickles and human sweat though.
2. This weapon is haunted by the ghosts of its former owners who wish to once again join in battle these damned souls will offer advice, pester the owner and may 30% chance attack the target if they're attitude allows them. 
3. Someone in the past used a high tech sex toy to fix the power unit on this weapon, it now makes the same sounds as certain martial adds when wielded in combat. This can be very distracting as the weapons gives out a sigh of sexual satisfaction after each kill. 
4. This weapon crawls with raw power and weird radiations making anyone hit by it take a save or roll on the mutation table as the chaotic and horrid power courses through their body and wounds. 
5. This weapon is sentient and a royal pain in the ass it will go on for hours about its capabilities and is actually cursed. The thing can affect and damage supernatural beings but must be threatened to work. 
6. This weapon has been made from two other technologies and can function in various dimensions. The weapon once per day can open a random dimensional hole to an alternative universe. 
7. This weapon was used in a power struggle between two demonic powers, it remains slightly out of phase with our normal universe and affects the erogenous zones of those around it when its used simulating massive orgasms but its an addictive property. You want someone to push you into combat! Demons and the their ilk don't like weapons like this because they experience this property too even as they take damage. 
8. This weapon was owned by a knight of the orders who sold it for one night of massive pleasure the weapon bares his shame and seeks an owner to redeem it in the eyes of its god. The weapon loathes vampires and undead. 
9. This weapon has been forged from the backbone and rib cages of succubus and incubus who are entwined in its hilt. The thing lusts for combat but tells off color jokes telepathically to all life forms in a twenty foot radius. The thing bleed twice a month with alien demonic fluids. 
10. This weapon shines with the heart light of an alien species and is able to heal 1d10 points of damage three times per week but communication systems and phones break in the user's hands. 
11. This weapon was forged at the edge of the big bag and retains the power and metal intensity of its forging. The thing can cause +3 damage once per week as a choir of demonic wailing accompanies its owner's savage attack. 
12. This weapon is wrapped in the demonic essence of its past owner's soul and the thing reeks of sulfur and dried alien blood. Lovecraftian aliens and demons must make a morale check or flee from the owner once a week as the stars align under the hilt of this weapon. 
13. This weapon was owned by powerful alien war lords and bounty dogs in the past it hungers for the blood of wrong doers even if the current owner is a dark side scum bag. Once per week it may turn on an NPC and fry them with its righteous and heinous
    anger! Strike for 1d6 points of damage of a gout of hell fire like energy. 
14. This weapon once belonged to an alien gangster and has needles that sample the genetic heritage of any owners past and present. It may 20% chance try to possess the owner and sell their personal genome information to bio pirates and their ilk for a clone body for itself. 
15. This weapon has seen too much blood and rust over the years and is now aligned with Chaos jackholes it has a 20% resistance to magick and energy attacks but after 1d4 weeks it will try to turn its owner to the dark side of evil. There is a 10% chance that the weapon may be sentient and has a copy of the mind of the last enemy the party or previous owner fought. 
16. This weapon considers itself a force for cosmic order and destiny, those it kills is a part of a public service. Once every three weeks it will telepathically pick a criminal or bounty to hunt down. Its also a bit kinky and likes to watch its owner's 'conquests'. 
17. This weapon has a demonic counterpart who wishes to see it destroyed or reunited with it,the other weapon can't decide. This dual existence however has granted the weapon the ability to once a week force the soul from the body of a victim. This causes the victim to be subject to all manner of demonic and astral parasites that might 30% seek such a victim out. 
18. This weapon has been used in desperate cosmic battles and longs for a the feel of alien suns. The thing gains +2 on attacks under alien skies where its cosmic batteries can recharge in the glow of weird suns. 
19. This weapon hates cosmic hipsters and cool pulpy heroes, it goes out of its way to destroy them on sight. +2 damage to all such horrid heroes of weak kneed sci fi. 
20. This weapon once belonged to a cosmic herald of dangerous power who lost it in a poker game aboard the space brothel. He has obtained god hood and now seeks its return he will destroy the current owner and erase the disgrace with their blood. 

Commentary On Mark Hunt's Gangbuster's Rpg Adventures Welcome To Rock Junction & The Second Level Encounters "The Time A Tree Saved Me" Adventure

Mark Hunt is a veteran of the role playing design hobby and has been writing, creating, and spicing up the table top for a very long time. He's been setting the Gangbusters Rpg community on its ear with some incredible reveals for upcoming products. The man knows his material and he's been creating supporting adventures and source books for months now. This week coming he's releasing two brand new pulptastic titles for Gangbusters under the Gangbusters Weird Tales & Paranormal Investigations imprint of his. He gave me a sneak peak of them and let's dive right in. I previously reviewed  GBM-1 Joe's Diner From Mark Hunt

You Can Find More Of Mark Hunt's Gangbuster Titles HERE

First up is Welcome To Rock Junction a brand new thirteen page city location for Gangbusters featuring a whole new city and urban location for a Dungeon Master to play with in the hard boiled Twenties. You get a bit of everything you might need from central locations, NPC's, and a whole lot more. This title really straddles the line between pulp and Noir giving the DM a packed series of locations that hit the high spots of the adventure points while giving the DM more then enough encounter room to create a DYI driven campaign. This thing is packed with gams,guns, and gats driven by Twenties rip roaring period artwork. If your familiar with any of Mark Hunt's White Star or Dungeon Crawl Classics work then you know exactly what I'm talking about. The author knows how to push buttons with his covers and materials.

Everything from start to finish is here for a DM to drop "Welcome to Rock Junction"  right into the back end of their Gangbusters campaign and go! This is a great campaign for any Gangbusters or OSR contemporary gamer to use. I would remiss if I didn't mention the NPC cards that are also out for the revitalization of the Gangbusters title! These are some really nasty NPC's for your PC's to run into! Seriously bad eggs and some really desperately dangerous thugs are in the mix of a game.

Second Level Encounters "The Time A Tree Saved Me" is a go to module that puts PC's into the action fast! Seriously by the second page of the adventure your guys and gals are going to be deep into the middle of the action and investigations of the adventure's plot line. According to the intro; "This is a new city for characters to explore for GANGBUSTERS™ RPG rules. This is specially designed for the game judge who needs to get back up to speed with the system in a fresh new city.

Gangbusters is a game that takes place in the Roaring 20’s and early 1930’s, essentially the Prohibition Era, of America. The focus of the game is on the Prohibition and the police/law enforcement struggle to control the streets and the halls of power. The player characters can take the roles of law enforcement, criminals, and other types of roles"

So this adventure places the PC's in the cross hairs of local gangsters, molls, and detectives with them having to walk the razor's edge between the factions and adventure opportunities. This is a well done effort effort that brings the Gangbusters game into the modern era with retro style play with a contemporary vibe that remains true to the essence of the original game. Its well written with some solid NPC's and room for expansion in at least two directions. This adventure can be fixed into the tails of the GBE2 Mans Best Friend

This is a nice effort at reviving the Gangbusters rpg title and there's a ton of potential with these titles. Mark has created quite a buzz and there's a ton of support including a very active G+ community. There are PC's sheets that can be downloaded and worked with to create your own hard boiled campaigns. These titles could also be used for other gaming systems such as Call of Cthulhu and Mercenaries, Spies, & Private Eyes. I think that these titles can be used for a wide variety of contemporary games. But these titles are also perfect for working into a quick pick up game of Gangbusters. 


On the whole I think that these titles are evidence of a one man third wave OSR for one of the most under appreciated TSR titles out there! I can't wait till we see more titles from the pen of Mark Hunt! Some amazing things are in the works from Mark's one man Gangbuster OSR!

Retro Review The Compleat Alchemist: Fantasy Role-Playing Supplement By Steven Cordovano & Stephan Michael Sechi For Your Old School Campaigns

Once upon a time alchemists in D&D were simply NPC's who adventurers went to see and divine out potions, create minor effects and had very limited interaction with as retainers and an urban encounter in the Expert set. But from the Erol Otus artwork there was far more going on with them then simply a few lines in the Expert rule book sure there were a few pieces of third party products that sort of breathed life into the workers of wonder. Well in 1982 that all changed ten fold with the release of Bard Games Compleat Alchemist.


This was the first of the Compleat Series and it was a great revelation under a simply understated cover, those gamers who picked it up soon learned that it was far more then it seemed on the surface. Suddenly the alchemist was a playable character with actual goals and ideas who at higher levels could become a patron to adventurers gathering the ingredients he or she needed. Yes that's right she, there were historical legendary lady alchemists scattered throughout occult lore and mythology another side effect of this book was that history suddenly got a whole lot interesting to a young gamer.



The PC class wasn't overly powerful and enabled a player to actually begin their journey on the path of alchemy and it was a very well done book for its time, so well done that a mini version of it was incorporated into the Arcanum. The Compleat Alchemist never my campaigns in the Eighties, one of the reasons were because the gathering of ingredients for the operations of the PC class was an adventure unto itself. The book featured lots of interesting little tables and cool little tid bits that made this book a cut above the usual rabble of Eighties third party products. It covers everything from minor potions to making constructs and humonculi (sentient creatures grown in vats). Basically everything you need to make the alchemist work as an adventuring PC is contained within this book and it makes it a well oiled addition to an adventuring party.

My first copy burnt up in an apartment fire along with a huge collection of my Eighties gaming material. That wasn't as much of a worry as one might think because there was a reprint that pops up all over the place from time to time . The question isn't if this book isn't useful but where isn't it, I've used it across the spectrum of OD&D, AD&D1st edition and other gaming systems including Ars Magica and others. Now I've used this system at least three times in play with both Lamentations of the Flame Princess and Dark Albion the material in The Compleat Alchemist has become both timeless and still right by my side at the gaming table. How I miss Bard Games these days. My recommendation is to pick up the Compleat Alchemist if you get the chance.

1d20 Random Sleazoid Professions Table For The Alpha Blue Rpg System By Venger Satanis

So I've been reading through Alpha Blue By Venger Satanis and monkeying with some of the backgrounds and PC professions for those adventurers messing around the space brothel station. So I decided to create some more sleazy secondary professions for PC's with a bit more sleazy & dark side menace  to them.



These should fit out a crew of outlaws and criminal scum of the universe quite nicely.

1d20 Random Sleazoid Professions Table

1. Telepathic dream thief and conscious seller, in your spare time you sell other people and life forms dreams and conscious thoughts so that others might experience them. You are scum of the lowest quality racking in hundreds of blue bucks on the side. 
2. Interstellar bill collector side contractor  you work on tracking down those who owe interstellar zombie bills and debts to your dark side jack hole masters; you might be working off your own debt or you could be racking in a few extra credits and blue bucks on the side. 
3. Life form pornographer, you have an unshakable curiosity about alien life forms reproductive processes and the sexual congress of other life forms then creating pornography about it for others. You might be a bottom feeler making a few hundred bucks on the side or you might be a big wheel whose gone into hiding. 
4. Information gatherer you are wired for sound with telepathic cybernetics wired throughout your body and you love to get high off of the glut of information flooding into your system. Getting paid for it is an added bonus and you'll gather it on anyone including your own family. 
5. Interstellar trouble maker, you are an operative for a corporation specializing in stabilizing the infrastructure of a planetary or outer colony world. Your the link pin that topples stable governments so that your bosses can go in and make some sweet profit. You make a couple hundred bucks on the side doing this slimy work. 
6. DNA and RNA pirate  you collect samples from life forms from across the universe so that your corporation can gain the jump on the genetic competition when it comes to leap frogging a head in the bio technological game. You make a few hundred to thousands of bucks on the side. This of course is without the victim's consent after all your bosses don't like paying royalties. 
7. Insanity Jacker - You are wired with telepathic receivers that sample and copy the insane thoughts and desires of those who suffer from weird forms of madness including aliens so that your bosses can produce weapon's grade telepathic devices for planetary extermination and pacification.  You make several thousand bucks on the side for your field work and contributions to the company. 
8. Soul Thief you are a complete douche bag who steals the souls and minds from his victim to sell on the black market. You are making some serious dough but the cops might be on to your operation. You also make your victims prime target's for demonic possession.
9.  Supernatural Target Maker you have a laundry list of supernatural and ultra reality demons as well as monsters that you love to secretly find victims for. These demonic and sub demonic entities pay you a couple of thousand bucks for each and every victim. 
10. A Player In The Murder Game - You secretly play a game of murdering and broadcasting your rites and rituals as you track down victims for a vast audience of telepathic subscribers. You float from adventuring party to party setting them up for another fall all the while collecting bucks from each and every demise. 
11. Free lance tax agent and collector - You work for three different interstellar governments tracking down losers who owe a variety of taxes on all manner of stuff. You secretly love nothing better then taking a moisture farmer's house or a military's star base that they owe taxes on. The work pays several hundred bucks but a party of adventurers might kill you for your association. 
12. Past scumbag  you secretly worm and spy on the past misdeeds of others and then black mail them through your superiors. This is done over time and you relish the potential for ruining another's life and making a few bucks off of it. 
13. Alternative time line slaver - You travel through time and space enslaving variant versions of your friends and family including other party members in your spare time. You secretly get off on this and make several hundred bucks in the deal anyway or is that another you? HMMM 
14. Bio weapons seller - your blood, bile, and body fluids teem with thousands of cells of weapons grade biological material, one simple flick of a DNA switch and your body's products can cause plagues,blindness, death or worse. You make a couple thousand bucks on the side acting as an agent where a kiss is actually an exchange of commerce of the worst variety or the dropping of the napkin is genocide. You are scum plain and simple. 
15. Fluid Sampler you are a collector of fluids from a million species hoping to score it big, you make several hundred bucks every month but are considered disgusting by most of the interstellar community. The dark side equivalent is one who does this without permission.
16. Telepathic fluffer ego stroker  you have several minor telepathic implants that allow you to stroke the egos of interstellar politicians and policy makers when they get crushed enabling them to spring back to work quicker. These guys are bottom feeder scum of the interstellar corporate and government world. 
17. Bounty betrayer your an informant to criminal scum dropping a dime on interstellar bounty hunters, you never have been caught and get a secret thrill from making several hundred bucks a month on the info you sell. 
18. Interstellar chicken hawk you turn young and innocent life forms to lives of scum and vile villainy by selling sweet young things to twisted masters. You make a couple thousand a month but hide yourself among adventurers to escape systems and assassination attempts. 
19. Experience taker you have learned the occult trick of taking all of the joys and highs of life and selling the experiences to addicts and clients who get off on recreating the 'first' time. You make several hundred bucks on the side but you are a shallow and callous being. Scum of the first order who preys on the fringes of the universe. 
20. You are a soul stealer for a minor demonic lord of ill repute, you might earn your way for a few more years but eventually your soul will be his or hers too. You make a couple of hundred bucks on the side.

A Review of The Into The Odd rpg System For Your Old School Post Industrial Campaigns

I received the Into the Odd Rpg as part of a Christmas gift haul that a friend brought over to my place on Christmas eve.Into the Odd – 48 pages of postindustrial adventures, horrific hazards, and cosmic meddling, written by Chris McDowall.  This is a horrific little romp through post industrial ruins and there's lots of down in the dungeon survival horror action in forty eight pages. There's an extremely active community on G+.
GRAB IT RIGHT HERE

Into The Odd  by Chris McDowall. and company is about as minimal OSR dungeon and ruin exploration as you can get. This is what a third wave OSR title looks like and yet it owes very little to D&D on the whole. It has everything you  might need under one cover and even has its own campaign setting baked right into the book. Everything from the ground up is quick and fast survival horror with a old school  style twist but its not. Here's the overview from the website.  "Into the Odd contains everything you need to create a character and explore an industrial world of cosmic meddlers and horrific hazards. This is a fast, simple game, to challenge your wits rather than your understanding of complex rules.

You seek Arcana, strange devices hosting unnatural powers beyond technology. They range from the smallest ring to vast machines, with powers from petty to godlike. Beside these unnatural items that they may acquire, your characters remain grounded as mortals in constant danger.

The game is 48 pages, containing:

Original artwork from Jeremy Duncan, Levi Kornelsen, and others.

The fastest character creation out there, getting you playing as soon as possible.

Player rules that fit on a single page, keeping a focus on exploration, problem solving, and fast, deadly combat.

The complete guide to running the game as Referee. From making the most of the rules to creating your own monsters and Arcana.
Sample monsters, arcanum, traps, and hazards"
This is a very well done game and there is a lot to recommend it if you a.Don't have time for a ton of the old school crunch and b. want to set up a campaign where David Lynich meets Dickens for tea and your adventurers are staring down occult cosmic dread in the middle of a dungeon.  So what makes the game so great? Well its pretty much less prep time then you might have for other old school rpgs. The take down for a campaign might be as long as players and the DM might like. Over all I liked the game and might run a game or two but this isn't going to replace my old school games weekly games. This is a great game for pick ups when you want to run something really different and need an old school replacement. Mick Reddick

over on Google plus has written a great little gem of an adventure called Tom Foolery that has some great concepts in it.
In addition there are some sold fan support materials in the form of  Odditional materials

which is well worth the time and energy for download for the sheer genius of some of the ideas in the book! I would definitely throw the folks at Lost Pages a few shekels for this genius download.


Why I like Into The Odd, it creates sound occult and weird  reasons for adventuring and makes whole of play and solid ruin exploration far more dangerous then many would expect. It does this with a style and grace of game design that I don't see too often. On the whole a great little game to have as part of a DM's tool box! five out of five for Into The Odd

Free OSR Conspiracy Horror Role Playing Magazine - Protodimension Magazine Issue 24

Ok, good morning 2016 apparently the guys over at Protodimension magazine have decided to drop another issue of weirdness on us with issue twenty four ! There's a bit of Call of Cthlhu Martian madness, some new alien weaponry from Lee Williams, A review of Venger Satanis's Outer Presence, some great short fiction and more.If your into conspiracy horror role playing then this is the one to get in on. They're also looking for gaming material from the hand of some solid writers and designers, so if you feel like submitting a piece or two you can find their submission guidelines right over HERE
GRAB IT RIGHT HERE



Contents for this exciting action packed horror issue for 2016 include :

• To Explain it all, Editorial dithering by Tad Kelson
• Go Ask Alice, an Adventure by Tim Bisaillon for Unknown Armies (1st ed.)
• Anthill Morning: The Shooter, Dark Conspiracy short fiction by T. Mike McCurley
• Sacraments of Love and Hate, review of the novel Sacrement by Eric Fabiaschi
• Waste Pickers in Dark Conspiracy, background and a new career by Richard Hayden for Dark Conspiracy III
• Somber Words, A Dark Rondeau by Norm Fenlason
• The Outer Presence, a capsule review by Tad Kelson
• The Mythos Guide To New England, A quick review by Eric Fabiaschi for Call of Cthulhu and OSR
• The Cold Men, Close encounters of the nth kind by Jeff Deischer
• ET Disc Gun, Alien weapons of death by Lee Williams for Dark Conspiracy
• Remnants, H.G. Wells comes to Call of Cthulhu by Eric Fabiaschi for Call of Cthulhu

You get a whole bundle of horror conspiracy weirdness for free so get to downloading and rolling some dice with friends!