OSR Review & Commentary White Box Arcana [Swords & Wizardry] By James M. Spahn From Gallant Knight Games

 "Magic-users are more than just fragile spell-slingers! With White Box Arcana you'll bring new options to your arcane apprentices and exceptional archmages! Inside this 32-page supplement you'll find all kinds of simple, yet exciting resources to your magic-user, including:

• Latent Spellcasters: Now other classes can have a touch of the arcane!
• Arcane Duels: Complete rules for wizard duels to decide who is master of the magic arts!
• Stronghold Construction: Build a laboratory, design a library, or head-up a magical academy!
• New Spells: Everything from binding familiars and creating magic items, to walking the planes of existence and breathing dragon fire! Over 30 new spells!
• New Magic Items: Over 25 new magic items to add to your campaign!"

 

Wizards hold a special place within my heart from Arthurian literature's Merlin to Ditko's Doctor Strange. The Wizard has been & remains a favorite class of mine.. So when the opportunity came to grab a copy of White Box Arcana it was in my cart before the card had finished its approved signal. And the reason that magic users always appealed to me as a player. When the world was spinning out of control spells & the occult enabled a man to have control over their own small piece of reality. That has a lot of appeal to one small boy back in the Seventies and even today to a certain degree. 
White Box Arcana clocks in at thirty two pages of occult OSR power. We start off with latent spellcasters and the idea that perhaps Gilly the Fighter might have some occult talent within his brawn shoulders. If only he'd have trained with the wizard's guild. James M. Spahn writing is pretty crystal clear on this subclass of magic users; "While magic-users train for years (or even decades) to master the arcane arts, a rare few are born with a natural affinity for magic. These, known as the Latent Casters, find that magic flows their their veins and they are instinctively able to cast a select few magic-user spells. Though they will never learn the powerful enchantments of a formally trained magic-user, Latent Caster characters nevertheless find themselves able to call upon a few useful enchantments when caught in a pinch" The latent spell caster isn't going to burn down a campaign but does offer an interesting side note on wizards as an optional class that we've seen a thousand times in fantasy fiction paperbacks. 

And we get arcane  duels next and the system is easy to understand and work with. Again this isn't going to set the campaign world on fire maybe the other wizard involved. This system reminds me of classic Disney's The Sword in the Stone film with agreements, iniative, and there being both a martial & social aspect to it. 
Sanctums & Strongholds is a solid chapert that goes into Sanctums & Strongholds ;"With referee permission, a magic-user of 7th level or higher may choose to establish a stronghold. The magic-user selects one of three types of strongholds to construct, and may only have one stronghold at any time. The three strongholds choices are academy, laboratory, or library. Most often the physical location a stronghold is secluded so the magic-user can maintain their privacy. The stronghold itself is typically a tower, though keeps, hidden caverns, urban mansions, and other options may be available with referee permission. The type of stronghold a magicuser selects grants bonuses to certain activities." 
And this system is simple, easy, and quickly adaptable to your own OSR or old school games. Then we dive into magic spells for levels one through seven most of these are pretty solidly original spells. 
All in all I think that White Box Arcana [Swords & Wizardry] By James M. Spahn is well worth the price of admission & download. 

White Box Arcana [Swords & Wizardry] By James M. Spahn Is Available Righr Here 

Matters of Castle & Space Piracy Using Dragon Magazine, The Best Of Vol. 4 & Independence Games Skull & Crossbones

 So last night was one of those night's where the Best of Dragon Magzine issue IV & came across a few articles that one think about the glory days of  Dragon magazine. Could it be that I miss Dragon magazine in its glorious print format?! This is espcially true of Section III Creative Campaigning. This is a wonderful section for any old school or OSR dungeon master. This is especially true of 'A PC and his money by Lew Pulsipher'. This is one of the semial article on dealing with 'treasure', money, and adventurers. 

'A PC and his money by Lew Pulsipher' purposes any number of ways in which circumstances, the state, politics, religion etc. will drain away all of that ill gotten loot of the PC's. Just look at the section on religion; "Religion: This should drain a significant sum from adventurers, staying more or less proportional as income rises. In most fantasy worlds the gods are real, and if not omnipresent, they at least affect the world through manipulation of followers and minions. Most adventurers will actively worship one or more gods, if only "just in case." Active worship entails contributions, if not tithes (10% of all income) or offerings of animals and goods of the worshiper. And if the local temple is destroyed, the wealthy worshipers (that is, the adventurers) will be expected to provide money to rebuild it." 
Simple, straight forward thinking DM advice that comes in really handy in the middle of a campaign or when those higher levels come. And money breeds greeds which attracts unwanted attention. 
But I can also see this coming into play in 2d6 rpg campaigns as well! That's right there's a deeper well touch stone here and that's using this information with other games as well. Yes, we're specifically looking at Stars Without Number & other Traveller derived systems especially when exoplanets are involved. an Earth analogy exoplanet. And its this idea that could well tie into Stella Gemma Publishing's Barbaric rpg. 

Imagine for a second here that the Wild West analogy is turned on its ear & in turn you've got a horde of space pirates descending from the stars onto a primitive society. Imagine if you will a horde of Clement sector space pirates deciding to raid a group of primitive worlds for slaves stock, artifacts, and especially nature resources. All of this to make a quick dollar on the open market and if worm hole gateways have been cut off for hundreds of years even better. Yes, we're looking at Independence Games Skull & Crossbones here. 

The idea here is that this is simply another investiment in the space pirates portfolio. To this nameless little primative world this could be the Apocalpyse. But what happens if the primatives turn the tables?! A primitive proto Germanic or European Viking style culture suddenly becomes an interstellar player on the sector scene?! 

Events & politic become a whole lot more complicated and this is something that early Traveller dealt with a lot. Even taking H. Beam Piper's Space Viking into account here. The implications of a Dark Ages society becoming an interstellar power one that echoes in the hearts of some Science Fiction fans. Sure it may take a century or two but those hordes could well be coming for your colony. 

And this same ideal could well be suited for taking the Demon-class lembus and the Ironbard-class longship and adding it to your hordes of Chaos in Adventurer, Conqueror, King. An idea that goes back to March 22,'s blog entry here. ACK's fanzine  Axioms Issue 2: Savage Swords of Chaos! has some excellent articles on doing exactly that! 

OSR Review & Commentary On Shortcuts to Adventure #3: Monstrous Reflections By James Mishler, & Jodi Moran-Mishler From Mishler Games

 "The third Shortcuts to Adventure module is Monstrous Reflections. This one is a doozy. The party finds themselves in an area where they can all too easily get in over their heads. A simple clan of refuge goblins seeks to save their skins by offering up information on their neighbor… a crazy old and very wealthy magic-user. He has a giant crystal, they say, and he stares into it all the time. If taking out the magic-user is so easy, though, why do the goblins have such a look of terror in their eyes?"

Designed for a party of 1st to 3rd level adventurers (maybe…), this adventure can easily be adjusted to higher levels by altering the mix and number of monsters present."

Shortcuts to Adventure #3: Monstrous Reflections sticks with Mishler games usual winning  formula of eight to ten pages of no nonsese OSR  adventure. And it all starts with the goblins in this dungeon location;"This portion of a mysterious, magical labyrinth or long-lost section of ruins beneath a city is where two very different areas accidentally meet. In the SW section lairs a clan of goblins, fleeing from the destruction of their tribe. In the NE section stands an area of strange magic and terrible danger, normally isolated from the rest of the labyrinth. The goblins simply want to be left alone, to recover their strength and eventually find a new home. They are terrified of what they have found to the NE. They gladly provide information to the party to spare their lives." 

What the goblins have found within the dungeon is utterly dangerous and because Shortcuts to Adventure #3: Monstrous Reflections builds on the previous Shortcuts To Adventure series entries this one takes into account adventure elements made in other entries in the series. While Shortcuts to Adventure #3: Monstrous Reflections is supposedly for levels 1-3 this adventure features wizards, warnings, and iconic monsters that will challenge even 3rd level PC's. 
The cartography, artwork, of the Shortcuts to Adventure #3: Monstrous Reflections has improved as well. 

Needless to say that Shortcuts to Adventure #3: Monstrous Reflections is a good & solid middle of road & mid tier OSR or old school adventure. Yes, Shortcuts to Adventure #3: Monstrous Reflections would do nicely as a mid tier dungeon for Castles & Crusades. And because it features such iconic monsters it a perfect OSR to Old School dungeon location. 
And because of this Shortcuts to Adventure #3: Monstrous Reflections would be perfect to place within an a Greyhawk campaign. This fact allows for the dungeon to drag & drop Shortcuts to Adventure #3: Monstrous Reflections into your own Greyhawk Campaign especially around the ruins of Castle Greyhawk especially the outskirts. 

The fact is that Greyhawk as a campaign setting works very well for Shortcuts to Adventure #3: Monstrous Reflections. And this because of the fact that Greyhawk's turbulent history and battles attract the evil & chaos of monsters & horrors like moths to the flame. And evil attracts heroes to itself. The treasures of Greyhawk offers the lure of quick riches and quick rewards. But also offers quick death to the unwary.  

Shortcuts to Adventure #3: Monstrous Reflections keeps this formula going & even the old ways are the best in my humble opinion. A fact that Mishler Games keeps taking advantage of & one that DM's can inflict upon their players. Shortcuts to Adventure #3: Monstrous Reflections  is a good & solid offering in the Shortcuts to Adventure series. 

Shortcuts to Adventure #3: Monstrous Reflections Is Available Right Here 

OSR Session Report II - Midnight at Tanière de Loup, an OSR WWII Mini-Adventure Using Operation White Box & Bloat Games's SURVIVE THIS!! Vigilante City - Core Rules

 "The year is 1939 & events in last night's super game event using Operation White Box & Bloat Games's SURVIVE THIS!! Vigilante City - Core Rules but set prior to the events of World War II. The party has parachuted into the French village of Tanière de Loup."

The village of  Tanière de Loup has an unsavory reputation going back to the Dark Ages. The party has managed to save the village priest from the nasty & rather dangerous Sturmbannführer Hoffrichter and the SS Troopers! 
To save myself time for yesterday's mini game I downloaded "Midnight at Tanière de Loup, an OSR WWII Mini-Adventure"  from David Baymiller's theosrlibrary.blogspot.com site. And this adventure kicks off right from here on the blog. 
The party consists of the following:

DM Steve has a 2nd level crime fighter The Dog - He's been killed by Sturmbannführer Hoffrichter 

Sherrie DM Steve's wife is The Mist a 3rd level spell caster has taken over leadership of the operation 

Todd is playing a 3rd level mech pilot owner of the Hammer 

Jason playing the vigilante Punch 2rd level 

Sarah is playing Judy 2rd level vigilante 

Brian is the Red Archer 2nd level archer

The party has had to capture all of the Nazi Archaeologists & smuggle them out. They are being held within the church.  The mayor's mansion was infilitrated & two Sturmbannführer Hoffrichter's SS undead bodyguards eliminated.  All papers, research, and samples of the materials of Sturmbannführer Hoffrichter were captured. But things started to go South when the party started to get into a stand up fight with Sturmbannführer Hoffrichter! DM Steve's PC Dog had his throat ripped out by Hoffrichter! And Jason playing the vigilante Punch 2rd level 

Sarah  playing Judy 2rd level vigilante were both wounded by the main antagonist!  Whist they were fire bombing the graves of the old church yard in broad daylight angainst Hoffrichter himself! He continued to do damage even as the Red Archer shot arrow after arrow into him! 
All of this kicked off because of one of Hoffritcher's monster body guards scratching at the window of the PC's village contact's window. And now Sturmbannführer Hoffrichter is hightailing it back to Berlin with copied documents, photos, and the rumor is several minor relics from Tanière de Loup village!  
The party is catching train just outside of the village's mountain pass and they think their on the trail of Sturmbannführer Hoffrichter! And they'll have to heal on the way but what they don't know is that Sturmbannführer Hoffrichter is actually hunting them! 

'When The Dust Settles' - Greyhawk Campaign Setting With Castles & Crusades Rpg Summertime Update

 "The dust has settled. The smoke has cleared. The war machines of Greyhawk's armies have ground to a halt.

In the aftermath of the great war, the people of Oerik piece together, some struggling to retain their homes, others pilgrimaging to the cities, searching for opportunities. And searching for answers."

"Who is in power? Which borders still stand, and which have been dissolved? Can anyone be trusted, or have Scarlet Brotherhood agents infiltrated every inn and tavern?

The lands of Greyhawk are forever changed, but provide more opportunities than ever for adventure and danger. Characters of all levels will find challenges and intrigue lurking in every alley and behind every tree." 

So let's pick this up right from here. Vecna Lives picks up after 'the From The Ashes' box set events & we were supposed to explore that this coming week but there's been a slight change in plans?! Why? Because my co dungeon master is at a conference out in California for the rest of the week. And half of our  players bailed because of Summertime famial commitments?! Wait, why are not all upset?! Because we were expecting this and the other PC's are lost in the fog of war. And here's where the thrill of Castles & Crusade's NPC Almanic The Register  comes into play. Different PC's encounter different NPC's who relate different view points of events ' From The Ashes' & 'Vecna Lives' 

And this leads into the PC's stumbling into the events of Vecna Lives in the deep end of the adventure pond. And there's a few minor NPC villains to help stir the pot here. 

OSR Review & Commentary On The White Box Compendium [Swords & Wizardry] By James M. Spahn For Your Old School Campaigns

 

"White Box Compendium compiles resources previously published in White Box Companion II, White Box Demihumans, White Box Options, and White Box Chivalry into a single product, and adds several new options previously unreleased!

• Fifteen Classes: Black Widow Elves, River Halflings, Sprites, and the new Tomb Robber!
• Psychic Talents: Tap into the power of your character's psyche with these fast and simple rules!
• Accolades and Honor: Knighthood isn't just for fighters anymore! Rules that allow any character to earn the prestige of chivlary, if they're willing to bear the responsibility!
• Halfling Past Times: Halflings are known for their love of pints and pipes, but these uncanny gardeners have more than just a green thumb!

Inside these fifty pages you'll find new resources to help spice up your White Box campaign, all while keeping it fast and fun!"

The White Box Compendium [Swords & Wizardry] By James M. Spahn was gifted to me a couple of Christmas's ago. And DM Steve suggested that I retake a look again because of some of the upcoming adventure events we've got going on. 
And the reason was very simple there are boat load of new PC classes, and many of these tie directly into the demi human races of old Dungeons & Dragons style games. These are well thought out and are very much tied back into  James M. Spahn previous efforts. The psychic talents are well thought out & James M. Spahn has an easy writing style that goes down easy when your trying to write out an adventure outline for a Saturday night game. Accolades and Honor has a bunch of options thought out for a knightly character even if that PC isn't a fighter type. But this comes with a buch of concessions of character. 
And finally there's a section on Halflings and it adds in brand new section on the PC idea and concepts for Halflings in OSR style games. 

White Box Compendium expands upon many of the ideas that we've seen in Swords & Wizardry for a while now. What James M. Spahn does is a sly flourish to take his guidelines & rules then refine them into a useful & concise way of handling the OSR rpg material of White Box Compendium. We've got a wonderful selection of classes in this book that reflect some solid OSR Swords & Wizardry PC classes such as:

Acrobat
Barbarian
Black Widow Elf
Cavalier
Dagonite
Deepstone Dwarves
Duelist
Goblin
Greenleaf Elves
Jester
River Halfling
Sidhe
Sprite
Tomb Robber

I highly recommend the White Box Compendium [Swords & Wizardry] By James M. Spahn because it brings a solid feeling of  OSR flavor & more S&W goodness without a ton of game fluff to bog down your OSR or old school campaigns. 

The White Box Compendium [Swords & Wizardry] By James M. Spahn Is Available Here. 

OSR Commentary On The Pleiades-class Light Freighter For The Clement Sector Rpg

 "Need a freighter?  On a budget?  We have the ship for you!

Smaller sister ship to the venerable Atlas-class, the Pleiades is a 300 tonne light freighter designed in competition to the Rucker-class.  Perfect for a crew who are carrying cargo and campaigning through Earth Sector or Clement Sector!"



"This book features both the TL11 version of the Pleiades common in Clement Sector and the TL13 version often found in Earth Sector.  Also featured is the Dustmote-class variant of the Pleiades designed to remain insystem and is shown here in both the TL11 version found in Clement Sector and the TL13 version found in Earth Sector.

The book fully details the ship with deckplans by Michael Johnson and beautiful art by Ian Stead."
Today's blog entry is going to pick right up from here.  So back in April we took a look at the  Pleiades-class Light Freighter For The Clement Sector Rpg. And now in June we're looking at using these startships as a 'Pony Express' style  Western hyperspace gateway corridor within our Cepheus Engine campaigns. This being said the Pleiades-class Light Freighter is going be perfectly angled as targets for space pirates!

So what does this have to do with the Pony Express well metaphorically speaking this hyperspace gate run is going to be a test run of only 20 years or so. This is chicken scratch to the corporations of the Clement Sector who are used to ventures taking quite a bit longer. And this is all made way too clear within the  the tech update 2350 which goes over the roles of star ships  in the Clement Sector. 

 And the Lance-class Gunboat design and variations could be left over Earth sector technology that the Clement sector has adopted and modified for their own uses. 
Michael Johnson's writing on the Pleiades-class Light Freighter makes this perfectly clear within the development of this iconic class; "Prior to the Collapse, all Dustmote-class in-system haulers in Clement Sector are modified Pleiades-class ships converted by local shipyards rather than new builds imported from Earth Sector. This was done for the simple reason of cost savings rather than any other reason, given the fact that the in-system hauler could have a relatively inexpensive reconversion back to a starship. After the Collapse in 2331, Cascadia Orbital began to offer the Dustmote-class as a purpose-built option with steady sales being reported with the hope of trying to capture some of the conversion market by offering a new vessel. Buying new meant far fewer issues with maintenance and reliability." 

And its this reliability & ultility that makes  the Pleiades-class Light Freighter a winner especially in combination with other caravan style military starships. We'll get into the how's & why's later on. 

Deadly Legacy - James Mishler Games Short Cuts to Adventure The Lost Gnome Mine Using Fantastic Heroes & Witchery With Dark Albion Session Report #1

 So there's been a ton of personal issues to deal with this weekend from scheduling mishaps to angry x girl friends. And I loath social media on top of all of this. Let's sweep this aside for a moment. Readers of this blog know that for the pass two or three years on and off there been Fantastic Heroes & Witchery rpg campaign on going on my watch. 

And yes this spilt over into Pundit's Dark Albion rpg campaign supplement & this later on became our Dark Europe campaign setting. We've had Cymric nobles, lost kingdoms, Arthurian influences, etc. you name it. And this brings up a fairy legacy that's been hanging out there in limbo! And so today I had my ears pinned back to run our campagin that uses Fantastic Heroes & Witchery's path through Dark Albion! 

And that brings up James Mishler Games Short Cuts to Adventure The Lost Gnome Mine. Right on the edge of one of noble's holdings that fades into the land of Fairy is the lost gnome; "Here long ago a clan of gnomes discovered a huge and beautiful black diamond. So magnificent was it, they began to worship it. Then, strange and terrible things happened, and the gnomes disappeared. But it is said that the huge black diamond, worth a king’s ransom, remains to be found…"  And this became the lost legacy for our current ruined noble on the edge of his property. So the rest of the party has gotten roped into helping their fellow party member. 
 Games Short Cuts to Adventure The Lost Gnome Mine is only eight pages long & can seamlessly be inserted into an ongoing campaign. There's a great little map & the black diamond is a nasty little servant of  Chaos & evil with its influene growing sending its tendrils into the real world slowly but surely within Wales. 

At only eight pages, we've (DM Steve & myself) have had to pad out the encounters around the old gnome mine in Fairy with the locals coming to their laird for help. And then there's the fleeing goblins! The fleeing goblins the party encountered as they made their way to the old gnome mine. And then the party encountered the hobb lord & his witch doctor advisor. There was a parley between the laird & the goblin lord who explained that they wanted to flee from the nasty influence of the mine. The party wisely returned to the noble's home to arm up & take on the evil of the mine. 
The players are not happy one little bit about the gnome mine really want to recon it before taking it on. Mission achieved on my part today. Is James Mishler Games Short Cuts to Adventure The Lost Gnome Mine worth the price of a dollar for a download?! In a word yes! There's enough adventure inducing meat here to flesh out what encounters and whatnot that you need to add the James Mishler Games Short Cuts to Adventure The Lost Gnome Mine to your own campaign. 

James Mishler Games Short Cuts to Adventure The Lost Gnome Mine Is Available Right Here

OSR Review & Commentary On The Lance-class Gunboat By Michael Johnson, & Bradley Warnes From Independence Games

 "The Lance-class is a 300-ton Royal Navy gunboat that revived the concept of a gunboat.    Armed with a 50-ton particle beam spinal mount and a railgun barbette, the Lance had the capability to be a serious threat to larger warships.  The Lance was used by the British to defend their colonial holdings in Earth Sector and inspired several nations to come up with their own versions of these powerful little vessels."

"Together with a purpose constructed interstellar capable gunboat carrier, the Maidstone-class, this allowed the Royal Navy to deploy up to six Lance-class gunboats to any system in which it was needed. This allowed for enormous flexibility and was a novel concept at a time where carriers were beginning to be considered by some navies to be an obsolete concept in space."

"This book comes complete with full deckplans and statistics for both the Lance and the Maidstone to make your use of our product simple, easy, and fun.  In addition, the book includes some excellent fiction by author Bradley Warnes."

"Though specifically designed for our Clement Sector setting, the Lance and the Maidstone can be imported into any science fiction setting with little effort."

"Climb aboard!  Adventure awaits!"

Lance-class Gunboat By Michael Johnson, &  Bradley Warnes is a very solid sixty one page supplement for old school Traveller & the Earth Sector rpg. Here the Lance-class Gunboat is really featured right out of the gate. The Lance class Gunboat isn't the first sort of ship that one thinks of when it comes to interstellar adventure. But these boats see themselves into the thick of the fray in many battles & there aftermaths. The fact that these gun boats are often embroiled in the affairs & battles of the Clement  sector makes them excellent foils for Cepheus Engine rpg adventure especially in the Clement sector rpg. 
And it's this aspect of the gunboat that makes them perfectly suited to a small party of crew that find themselves in trouble & battles more oftern then not. This is also true of the Lance Class gun boats even unto their development; " At the same time various designs for a new uprated patrol boat (that later evolved into the Lance-class gunboat) were being examined by the Royal Navy, the Admiralty Board requested expressions of interest for a Zimm capable carrier of no more than two and a half thousand displacement tonnes that could deploy a full six boat squadron. The carrier design tender took longer to resolve and even longer to decide which design was preferable. Eventually though, a design was chosen and construction of the first of the three carriers to be ordered was commenced in 2208. "
From busting up space piracy, interstellar smuggling, human trafficking, etc. the Lance class gunboat is going to be where the action is! 
This is especially true of the tech update 2350 which goes over the roles of star ship in the Clement Sector. The role of the Lance Class Gunboat reminds me of the Iron Clads during the American Civil War. 

The attention to detail in the design of the Lance Class Gunboat is reflected in the fiction of Bradley Warnes and Michel Johnson's writing. There's more then enough adventure hooks if the Lance class gunboat is used in a Cepheus Engine campaign. The deadliness of these ships is not to be underestimated within a Clement or Earth Sector campaign. The Lance-class Gunboat By Michael Johnson, &  Bradley Warnes is solidly done & would make an excellent addition to any Cepheus Engine or Old School Traveller rpg campaign. 

Lance-class Gunboat By Michael Johnson, &  Bradley Warnes From Independence Games For Old School Traveller & Cepheus Engine rpg is Available Here 

OSR Review & Commentary Shortcuts to Adventure #01: Shrine of the Slime God By James Mishler and Jodi Moran-Mishler From Mishler Games

 So Shortcuts to Adventure #1: Shrine of the Slime God came across my email tonight from Mishler Games. And it's just in time for this weekend's Castles & Crusades game that I'm supposed to be running. And its 

"The first Shortcut to Adventure is the Shrine of the Slime-God. Here horrible Chaotic and Evil priests and cultists come to worship the Demon-Prince of Slime. Here they store their treasures when they return home and hide in obscurity among their Lawful, Goodly neighbors… but they do not leave these treasures unguarded!"

"Designed for a party of 4th to 6th level adventurers, this adventure can easily be adjusted to higher or lower levels by altering the mix and number of monsters present."

Adventure #01: Shrine of the Slime God By James Mishler and Jodi Moran-Mishler is a perfect  small dungeon with a big adventure hook  for levels four to sixth level adventurers. And this is really significant for the fact that despite the small page count. Shrine of the Slime God  is a majorly deadly dungeon perfect for a weekend set up and play. 
Shrine of the Slime God a perfectly suited mini dungeon to drag & drop into your favorite urban campaign landscape. And this brings up the fact that because shrine is a mini dungeon that its perfect to drop into this weekend's Greyhawk Castles & Crusades game. Why?! Because the demon prince of slime is throw back to the Greyhawk city or Greyhawk ruins setting. There's just enough material within Adventure #01: Shrine of the Slime God By James Mishler and Jodi Moran-Mishler to throw into an ongoing game and keep the players on their toes. 

Shortcuts to Adventure #01: Shrine of the Slime God By James Mishler and Jodi Moran-Mishler comes in at eight pages. And as an adventure it works quite perfectly for a Friday or Saturday evening OSR or old school games.The layout within this module is well done. The cartography of the Shortcuts to Adventure #01: Shrine of the Slime God By James Mishler and Jodi Moran-Mishler is simple direct & does exactly what it says on the tin. For C&C this is an excellent little mini dungeon to introduce the slime prince of demons to your players. And here's where C&C's Tome of The Unclean comes in handy to really bring home a few more details about the demon prince of slime. 

Shortcuts to Adventure #01: Shrine of the Slime God By James Mishler and Jodi Moran-Mishler is reasonably priced. Easily to add into existing campaigns & works very well to bring home the goodness of the demon prince of slime! 

 Shortcuts to Adventure #01: Shrine of the Slime God By James Mishler and Jodi Moran-Mishler From Mishler Games Is Available Here. 

More WWI Mecha For Your Old School Post Apocalypse Campaigns

 

The Radium Destroyer 

Engine: Diesel Tank Carbine 40 mph max speed, cruising speed 30 mph 

Power/Fuel Source: Atomic Furnace  Engine (300 year lifespan)

Body Style: Giant Tank , Off Road 

Handling: Excellent, Dex +3 

Frame: Under Water Tank , 50 HP

Structure: Sturdy, 6 AC

Modification Allotment: 10 hard points 

Most Hard Points Are Used For Energy Weapon Mounts

Retro Enginnered Martian Tank Used By Various Fanatical Powers Of The World During The Extended War 

Canal Defense Force Beam Weapons & Anti-gravity Platforms.
These Red Martian Defense Platforms are arrayed along the canals of Mars mostly in defense of the major capital cities. Each Pyramid runs on broadcast power from the central radium fusion reactors & uses a combination of  fusion beam search lights & heat ray batteries. Each one has a range of 50 miles & does 1d10 points of damage. The heat ray batteries do 1d6 points of damage per burst.
The pyramids are serviced by anti-gravity defense platforms each equipped with a simulated Red Martian brain. These tactical defense units are capable hurling a lethal heat ray for 1d6 points of damage 2 miles or more. There are usually 6 in attendance for each pyramid. They each have a range of 10 miles. They are capable of intricate patterns & tactics. The Psychic crystal matrix of each pyramid are responsible for the control & defense of a 3 square grid pattern around their canal areas. 

 

The Tesla Destroyer 

 Nikola Tesla's macroscopic charged particle beam projector. The device was based upon a large Van de Graaff generator of unique design and a special type of open-ended vacuum tube. It comprised a system for the acceleration of minute tungsten or mercury particles to a velocity of about 48 times the speed of sound. The projectiles were propelled out of the tube by electrostatic repulsion.

 Does 1d10 to anything within a 100 mile range not protected by a force field or psychic mind barrier. 

 

Gyro - Electric Destroyer 

Engine: Diesel Tank Carbine 50 mph max speed, cruising speed 30mph 

Power/Fuel Source: Atomic Engine (300 year lifespan)

Body Style: Giant Tank , Off Road 

Handling: Excellent, Dex +3 

Frame: Tank , 50 HP

Structure: Sturdy, 4 AC

Modification Allotment: 8 hard points 

The big brother of the Trench Destroyer, these weapons saw extensive use in the theaters of Europe, China, the far East & Antarctica. They are know for a hall mark of sturdy design, lethal firepower  & devastating hit & run tactics. 

They have the special quality of being able to keep their weapons upright no matter the circumstances of the obstacles within their way. Today their are very few of these monsters left. They saw action in every single conflict within the Extended War. These monsters were designed to over come many of the tench war fare sieges common during those conflicts. Today those that remain are found with in the hands of collectors & within museums. They usually mounted conventional fire arms & energy weapons when needed. 

Diabolical Ray Cannon Truck Unit 

Engine: Atomic Ellen Motor ,70mph

Power/Fuel Source: Atomic Engine (300 year lifespan)

Body Style: Utility Truck, Rough Terrain

Handling: Standard, Dex -1 

Frame: Heavy Duty, 20 HP

Structure: Standard 

Modification Allotment: 3 hard points usually armed with a  2 teleforce cannons & radium generator 

These weapons saw extensive action in the 3 War Of The Worlds after Nicola Tesla reverse engineered the Martian technology. The truck takes 7 rounds to set up. These weapons do 1d8 points of damage to anything hit by them. Force fields will protect against the effects of the  rays however.  They are very delicate & take 1d3 days of down time & repair between combats. They are set up around the perimeters of many state capitals & provide a measure of anti air support in addition to more conventional weapons. 

OSR Session Report - Midnight at Tanière de Loup, an OSR WWII Mini-Adventure Using Operation White Box & Bloat Games's SURVIVE THIS!! Vigilante City - Core Rules

"The year is 1939 & after the communication from Dr. Jones to the U.S. government the United States along with its allies enter an unofficial clandestine war against the Axis powers. The PC's are special costumed  operatives who under cover of darkness parachute into the French countryside & into horror! "

 Finally back home after a very long day dealing with gardening, running around, & finally a bit of OSR gaming with DM Stevie's group. Today has been an OSR super game event using Operation White Box & Bloat Games's SURVIVE THIS!! Vigilante City - Core Rules but it was set prior to the events of World War II. Or at least not the WWII we know! 

To save myself time for this afternoon's mini game I downloaded "Midnight at Tanière de Loup, an OSR WWII Mini-Adventure"; "The characters are a squad sent by military intelligence to investigate why the Nazi’s have taken such an active interest in the French village of Tanière de Loup. Traveling from an air base in England, the squad completed a successful night parachute drop within five miles of the village. After stowing their parachutes, checking their weapons, and double-timing the five miles down the trail, they are crouched in the forest on a large hill overlooking the valley and Tanière de Loup." The PC's began to recon the village from seven miles away & were undercover in French 1940's clothing. The  Nazi Archaeologists & their soldiers had clandestinely taken over the village & were doing a dig in the area. Outside communication had been cut off. But life in the surrounding valley  area continued on mostly normal. But out of the one hundred residents only sixty five remain. The PC's are under the cover of being relatives of the villagers & traveling together. 
The valley & the village has an unsavory reputation going back to the Dark Ages in occult circles.  But the old church & its grave yard have been abandoned for centuries. At least they were but things were not as they seem. The PC's made it into the village undetected & were able to make contact with their local terrorified villager contact. And they were taken into the village contact's home. And their contact filled them in on the Nazi parachuting into the valley and how Tanière de Loup village had become Hell on Earth! 
And that's when the party heard scratching at the window by something or was it someone!? 

DM Steve has a 2nd level crime fighter The Dog 

Sherrie DM Steve's wife is The Mist a 3rd level spell caster 

Todd is playing a 3rd level mech pilot owner of the Hammer 

Jason playing the vigilante Punch 2rd level 

Sarah is playing Judy 2rd level vigilante 

Brian is the Red Archer 2nd level archer

All characters are using period appropriate gear from Operation White Box but will they survive the ordeal?! Tune in next week folks! 

OSR Commentary On White Box : Fantastic Medieval Adventure Game By Charlie Mason From Seattle Hill Games

  "White Box: Fantastic Medieval Adventure Game is an easy to learn role-playing game in the style of the Original Edition from 1974 by Gygax and Arneson. It is based on Swords & Wizardy WhiteBox.

Unleash your imagination to dream of other worlds, where you roleplay heroic characters and go on adventures, just like in the days of old."

"Slay a dragon!
Sometimes even the most reluctant adventurer will hear the call of the Wilderness and set out to slay a dragon, or at least steal its treasure!

Explore the unknown!
There is no limit to the lands you can explore and magic you can discover." 

"Fight on!
So grab your sword, mace or wand and travel beyond the borderlands and brace yourself to face great and terrible monsters. And remember, no matter what happens… Fight on!"

White Box : Fantastic Medieval Adventure Game By Charlie Mason is a game that worked its way back into my consciousness after a rather lengthy three years. White Box : Fantastic Medieval Adventure Game has everything you need to start playing straight outta of the box. 
White Box : Fantastic Medieval Adventure Game is a rules light & easy to use retroclone that has everything needed to start playing & OSR game straight up by including  a bestiary and a decent treasure section both mundane and magical. And its this ulitity fact that makes White Box : Fantastic Medieval Adventure Game stand out from the other retroclones on the market. Best of all it's derived from Swords & Wizardry making White Box : Fantastic Medieval Adventure Game easy to learn & use for repeated gaming.
This is a game with just enough equipment, magic spells, & rpg systems to be perfect to use at the table top right outta of the gate. And this same routine of use extends to the rest of the systems within White Box : Fantastic Medieval Adventure Game. 
And its this uliity that makes the White Box : Fantastic Medieval Adventure Game  so appealing. There's all of the goodness that you remember without all of the hangers on BS that goes with it. 
You can hack, fold, and mutilate the systems of White Box : Fantastic Medieval Adventure Game easily and it will work very well. And this is what makes campaign & adventure set up so good. White Box : Fantastic Medieval Adventure Game packs a punch without wrecking the table top goodness and old school vibe inside the game world itself. 

White Box : Fantastic Medieval Adventure Game Is Available As a 'Pay What You Want' title here.