Retro OSR Review & Commentary On The Fantastic Four Compendium (Marvel Super Heroes, Ma4) By David Martin (Author) For The Marvel Super Heroes Advanced Rpg system

 " In this book, you'll meet all the heroes who have at one time or another been members of the Fantastic Four, the group's extended family, their friends, and their allies. You'll also find stats for the Fantastic Four's most hated and feared DR. DOOM (both of them!), the PUPPET MASTER, the members of the FRIGHTFUL FOUR, and many others. Details are provided for the old Baxter Building and the new Four Freedoms Plaza, for such locales as PEGASUS, ILIAKANDA, and HANDAR. From the Fantastic Four's first battles with GORMUU and the MOLE MAN to their latest adventures, you can find everything you need to play the Greatest Superhero Team Ever between these covers."

So last night I got out this old beauty because of the fact that I'm planning on introducing some of the classic The Fantastic Four Compendium (Marvel Super Heroes, Ma4) adventure elements to our campaigns. 
The first thing that jumps out to me is just how much classic Marvel Fantastic Four elements that the TSR crew crammed into this classic! Ma4 is for the Marvel Super Heroes Advanced Rpg system even though it's incredibly useful for other super hero rpg systems. 

 The Fantastic Four Compendium (Marvel Super Heroes, Ma4) By David Martin (Author) is way, way, out of date from the Fantastic Four comics. However, Ma4 does cover all of the Sixties through early Eighties classic era Fantastic Four adventure elements.  There's a great Amazon review of MA4 from Kevin M.Derby from June 27,2016; "David Martin hit a home run with the “Fantastic Four Compendium.” While this is a supplement for TSR’s classic Marvel RP from the 1980s, Martin also offers an interesting resource for fans of the team though, after more than a quarter of a century, this is a dated look at the team (so dated that the team included Crystal and Ms. Marvel--not She Thing--instead of Reed and Sue Richards). Besides looking at the main characters and their supporting cast and opponents, Martin shines a light on the team’s various headquarters and other locales, vehicles, and equipment. It’s a fascinating look at the Fantastic Four after John Byrne’s run and the inconsistencies which have mostly plagued that team since then. Highly recommended to Fantastic Four fans." 
So what's so great about Ma4?! Well besides giving us the lowdown on Namor, Atlantis, the Moleman, and more. Is the fact that The Fantastic Four Compendium (Marvel Super Heroes, Ma4)  gives out the prime adventure locations like the Negative Zone, and it's inhabitants such as Blasstar and many others. 
Plus we get a wide range of equipment, gimmicks, devices, etc all used by the FF. And these are just waiting to get your PC's into trouble. 
Because Ma4 was designed with this in mind it slots right into the Marvel Super Heroes Advanced book. These design choices go right along with Pete Tamlyn opinion who  reviewed Marvel Super Heroes Advanced Set for White Dwarf #84; "Regarding the rules, Tamlyn states: "Jeff Grubb has done a pretty slick job, both in expanding the system without over-complicating it [...] and in explaining it all in an entertaining manner."^[3] He was critical of the set's complexity, "TSR seem to believe in simple, improvisational games for kids and complex, rule-heavy ones for adults."^[3] He continued, "Whether you need MSH Advanced depends on how you like to run your games. If you're starting out, provided it is not your first roleplaying game, I'd go for the Advanced game but be prepared to treat a lot of what it says as guidelines only." All of this can be found within the Marvel Super Heroes Advanced wiki entry here. 

Photo stolen from Wayne's books who has an excellent Marvels Super Heroes section here. 

Our own super heroes were known as the 'mop up's' back in the Eighties because that's exactly what we did with The Fantastic Four Compendium (Marvel Super Heroes, Ma4) By David Martin (Author). We'd often mop up after the Fantastic Four had moved on and taken out more negative zone or Mole Man monsters after the FF had moved on to other things. Often this was direct result of working for Damage Control. We got paid on a mission by mission basis and were super mercenaries way before it became fashionable. 
Is The Fantastic Four Compendium (Marvel Super Heroes, Ma4) By David Martin (Author) worth the download?! In a word, oh yes and it's available through the Classic Marvel Forver website under downloads advanced tab. 

OSR Review & Commentary On The Clement Sector Lightspeed rpg By John Watts From Independence Games

 Want a rules light version of the Clement Sector rpg? Clement Sector Lightspeed rpg has you covered! All of the Clement Sector rpg Space Western goodness with little over a hundred pages of set up, prep, and all rpg setting!  And thanks to Independence Games I got a chance to take a look at The Clement Sector Lightspeed rpg. 

Ian Stead's artwork is always on point especially for the Clement sector. 

Clement Sector Lightspeed rpg does is provide a whole cloth 2d6 role playing game from the ground up. Is CSL any good?! Well this is the Clement Sector rpg streamlined and managed into a solid rpg package that has the system put into a whole cloth role playing game. It does the job nicely. And it's all you need to jump into the deep end of a campaign. 
According to Wade's Clement Sector review on Drivethrurpg from Febuary 23, 2023;"The Clement Sector had been attached to the Earth Sector before the wormhole (or "Conduit" as it was called) the wormhole collapsed and the Clement found itself left to fend themselves, separated from Earth. The Clement Sector has been divided by twelve sub-sectors with 335 planets (with many planets or sectors haven't actually been discovered). Each planet has a brief of its own government or settlement, it's own militaries, and several planets may have pirate bases. There no living aliens but there are a few planets with alien ruins and there is a great possibility for GMs to use planets which haven't been discovered. Does the GM want to place alien bases or civilizations? All worlds which have been discovered, used or not, each world has thier own "Univeral World Profile" which provides a quick glance at the worlds starports, world size, atmosphere, population, governament, law level, and technology and then provides full charts on how to create and use those stats. Almost all planets are governed by thier own government with the exception of a small group of planets which are governed together (which call themselves the "HUB")." 

And we get this same treatment within the Clement Sector Lightspeed rpg! The rpg spotlight is on humanity allowing the DM to jump start an instantly recognizable campaign with streamlined 2d6 rules. The focus on humanity allows the player's PC's to have a stake in the Clement sector.  The 2d6 system within the Clement Sector Lightspeed rpg is geared towards creating characters and then get them adventuring in spades in the space of the Clement Sector. 

What makes the CSL rpg work is the fact that it take full advantage of the strengths of it's big brother the Clement Sector rpg's PC rules generator & 2d6 elements. Then it builds on those elements! 

These systems then get mixed into weapons, equipment, gear, backgrounds, & more again all from the Clement Sector rpg but streamlined. This streamlining provides on the CSL rpg's strengths. The prep time for PC generation is speeded up from the Clement Sector rpg. Even though you can completely run the Clement Sector rpg with CSL. The Clement Sector rpg campaign setting is there within the Clement Sector Lightspeed rpg with all of it's adventure elements.  And the Clement sector is a great place to adventure! From hunting pirates to straight on exploration or adventuring the Clement sector is a great campaign setting. And the CSL rpg certainly capatures that in spades. 
I personally think that The Clement Sector Lightspeed rpg fills a quite needed niche on the Independence Games rpg campaign setting. That is the fact that many folks don't need to have a six hundred and sevenity three page rpg. And get a much more managable package within The Clement Sector Lightspeed game. Everything is here within this hundred and thirteen page package for you and your players to adventure on the frontier of the black within the Clement Sector. 

Note from Independence Games: 
This is an advance copy of the Clement Sector light rules. This product will not be available until August 1. If you do a review of these rules, please either wait until August 1 or note that you have received an advance copy and that the book will be released on August 1.

Everything In World War Two & Your Mother - The Free Marvel Super Heroes rpg Netbook Adventure 'In The Shadows of Evil'- The Demon of White Chapel Part II - None of That Nun

 We ended up at Ravencroft Ayslum to speak with Jack the Ripper or the inmate who claimed to be the murderer. And then we picked right back up from the last session! The heroes in tonight's game came face to face with the Red Skull's Sisters of Sin right in the Middle of Ravenscore Ayslum! And it was battle royal with the demon Pazuzu right in the middle egging on the proceedings! 

The Sisters of Sin didn't manage to kill any of our heroes but they did manage to injure at least three civilians and proceeded to make life very hard for the party! 
We mnaged to cut a deal with the demon but this was after mopping the floor with the Red Skull's nuns! We did manage to avoid burning down the Ayslum and secured the statue of Pazazu! This was after making a deal with the demon who continued it's tirade of absuse. 

The brawl spilled into the streets of London & the Sisters of Sin decided to murder the party to get what they wanted. And in the meantime we had Pazuzu whispering in our colllective ears the whole time! Bargaining, tempting, & conjoiling the PC's in thier heads.  Dr. Jones tripped up & then brought some rubble down on the sisters ending thier threat for the moment. 

Enter The Psycho Warriors - Ascendant Rpg Session Report - Capital City Casefiles #2: Served Cold By Karl Gustav-

 The PC's have been called into a new mission as they've made a cosmic entity report after encountering the High Evolutionary last session. Now the PC's are to perform a raid on an illicit drug lab except when they got there all they found was victims being tortured. And here's where things got sideways after a hovercraft comes for a landing at the illicit lab!  The illicit lab had been taken over from the cartels by some forgein concern! 
`

Immediately the PC's took on gun & energy rifle fire! These guys were playing for keeps! 
The PC's were confronted by a battlion of Psycho Warriors who looked like rejects from an S&M club combined with future soldiers uniforms. Even grievously wounded these guys kept coming! 

A few carefully placed grenades and the speedster Racer rolled really well! A small group of seven Psycho Warriors were taken out! Or they would be if the demonic entities that were animating them didn't keep them going! 
This freaked the players out as these things didn't stop! Plasma bursts and laser vision blasts later those same warriors were taken out! And so it went! There was no retreat as the warriors poured over the party and rained energy fire on them! 

Two of the player's PC's were wounded causing the PC's to retreat to get medical attention from a local Doctor's House lab & depot! 

Star Labs was closed on a Sunday! But our Plasma based hero Hothead was incredibly unstable. But the PC's got him medical attention on time getting our resident flaming hero into a magnetic containment tank in time! The players are pissed that they had to break off the action! 

Powder Keg - A Quick Examination of the Tau Ceti War For The Hostile Rpg & Campaign Update!

 This week has been a huge operation for one of our family's cats & so gaming for the weekend has been put on hold. Instead, I met with some of our Hostile players to discuss getting on another mercenaries aspect of the campaign. This would take place on Tau Ceti as the latest battlefront from Zozer Games Colony Wars

Tau Ceti has a lot of possibilities for expanding the battles and warfare for mercenaries within the Hostile rpg. And this leaves the door open for doing a Dirty Wars Campaign from Zozer Games set on Tau Ceti 

Why?! Because of the fact that Dirty Wars is geared for creating  experienced veterans - the perfect PMC candidate whose connections from the military allow the PC's to have history together. 

This ties in with recent game sessions in which our main party found out that Tau Ceti is a powder keg. It's waiting to drag in the rest of the corporations into a protracted series of brush fire wars that will end in the first intergalatic conflict. 
There are hints about this immending conflict all throughout Zozer Games Colony Wars. And this could drag the Earth & it's colonies into the next major recession. And then the rise! Earth is on a wartime economy and it's trickling down into every major aspect of the Hostile rpg. 

This is something we see time and again in Hostile.. The corporations have stablized life but it's a clock ticking down to corporate on corporate warfare. Will the Earth or it's colonies  survive?!Suggestively only those that are absolutely on the outer fringes might survive. But where will these colonies get thier resupply?! Only those societies that are entirely self sufficiant will survive such a coming war.  
So we settling into creating our own colony for our party as an end game goal. The fianances have been very hit and miss for our own mercenaries. The party has been stoking the fires of this coming war! 

Our party has invested in several colonies and had good returns. We've also illicitedly invested in other ventures through our party's hackers & cybersneaks for an added layer of fiancial security. 

Originial Dungeons & Dragons Gods, Demi-gods & Heroes - Of Lovecraftian Archnid Gods & Primordials - Yezud's Linage

Tonight I was reading through original Dungeons & Dragons Gods, Demi-gods, and Heroes. Because I'm doing a bit of research & prep work for an up coming campaign. I came across the Hyboria section on the Conan Mythos. And I came across the entry on Yezud the spider god of Zomara. Yezud is rather nasty according to Gods, Demi-Gods, & Heroes; "YEZUD Armor Class — 3 Magic Ability: (See Below) Move: 16" Fighter Ability: 12th Level Hit Points: 225 Yezud is a giant black spider able to consume energy levels, as does Stormbringer, and use all the powers of a phase spider. Its evil priests keep it in human sacrifices and for this is supplies them with tiny hand-size pearls. These black pearls, upon a mental command, will turn into a poisonous spider, biting for 2 dice (10-sided) of damage. These pearls are usually placed in the center of a piece of jewelry that the priests give to high officials and other people of importance"



 

And my question becomes where did Yezud come from!? If the Earth has seen cycle after cycle of mythological ages & history according to Robert E. Howard . Then what if there's a deeper connection between the works of Tolkein and Robert E. Howard?! What if the ages of Middle Earth are but another cycle of Earth. Working with hyposis is it possible that we already know the origin of Yezud?! 
 

"But still, she was there, who was there before Sauron, and before the first stone of Barad-dûr; and she served none but herself, drinking the blood of Elves and Men, bloated and grown fat with endless brooding on her feasts, weaving webs of shadow; for all living things were her food, and her vomit darkness."

—The Two Towers, "Shelob's Lair"" 
What if Shelob was the distant grand mother of Yezud?! Shelob was a great Spider and the greatest offspring of Ungoliant, the primordial spider. Ungoliant,was the offspring of an archnid god even old in the form of Ungwë-Tuita, the 'Spider of Night. Now if these archnid gods remind you of Stephen King's 'It'? There's a reasom for this. King borrowed quite a bit of material from Tolkein especially for his Dark Tower series of novels. And 'it' seems to have a lot in common with Ungoliant; "The origins of Ungoliant are unspecified, except that she had been a spirit, entering Arda and taking the form of a giant spider. As a spirit being, she would only be perceptible to those that could perceive spirits and the spirit world. It is implied that her spirit form was one of pure darkness, reflected in her physical form. Since the Valar, Maiar, and other spirits in the physical world freely took on forms that reflected their nature, Ungoliant's terrifying and monstrous form did the same. While her form was described as being that of a giant spider, and she is credited as the "first" giant spider, the narrative indicates that" 

Both Yezud & 'It' also feed on life force or the souls of thier victims indicating more common linage. And this also plugs into Ungoliant once again who was in point of fact a primordial. 

`
Depiction of Ungoliant in her lair by Max Duran artwork used without permission. 

In the face of this speculation, I'd also go so far to say that could on the indicators of this archnid god linage that the Great Old One Atlach-Nacha is another member of this branch of primordials. The giant purple spiders of the Dreamlands are the last remains of these horrors and hates of old. The original god like horrors had a purpose. 
This branch of primordials spins out the great web of existence while feeding on the human prey of reality. Thier function seems to be to mark the great epochs of Earth's cycles while feeding on humanity in stages. We get the following from Ungoliant's entry:"Considering that the Ainur passed through the Void while venturing from the Timeless Halls to Arda, it is likely she was simply a powerful Ainu in the form of a spider, or a being from the Void itself." 
These are not beings to trifle with an only the most fool hardy or high level adventurers should trifle with these beings. 

Everything In World War Two & Your Mother - The Free Marvel Super Heroes rpg Netbook Adventure 'In The Shadows of Evil'- The Demon of White Chapel Part I

 There are times where you really don't want to mess around with the forces of evil! And in tonight's Marvel Super Heroes Rpg adventure that's exactly what happened! Tonight's adventure had the player's PC's picking right up from last week's  game session  right after the PC's recovered the Jewel of Ozymandias. This came at great personal expense as two PC's ended up in hospital. The PC's did manage to complete the first leg of thier mission but now it was back to White Chapel district of London. 

The party was off to the White Chapel section after a gristly series of murders & they stumble across the occult bookshop Panpipes &  the proprietor of Panpipes, Edward Wingate. Mr. Wingate specializes in Jack the Ripper brick- a - brack. But the book store is really devoted to the occult in all it's sorted aspects. He knew all of the legends of the occult items of power that the PC's seek & he also knew of a recent inmate who claims to be Jack the Ripper himself. Mr Wingate set up the inmate's backstory himself; "“There’s a fella now, though, that came out of nowhere claiming to be old man Jack. There have been confessions all over the place for decades, but none have held up. But this fella, if the stories are to be believed, knows things that even the most astute followers of the murders wouldn’t know. There are still secrets that only a select few know, and this crazy bastard knows them all." 
Of course the heroes wanted to meet this inmate! 
“They have him holed up right now in the Catholic home for the Insane, St. Michael’s Asylum down on Montague Street.”Of course the party wants to interview 'Saucy Jack ' and they have no idea it's actually the demon Pazuzu! We ended here as they took a long time speaking with  Mr Wingate about Jack The Ripper & the items of occult power they were seeking.