Thursday, August 1, 2013

Further Mediation On Dark Outpost By James M. Ward And Christopher Clark




This is a great generic science fiction adventure In The Old School Science Fantasy Tradition. You can get it right HERE

Description According To DrivethruRpg : 

Description:
Dark Outpost is a generic science fiction adventure set aboard a spacestation in geosynchronous orbit above a small class M planet. This massive station, built by robots and crewed by automated machines, is the pride of the galactic fleet, and the hope of those that will colonize the planet below.  But something has gone wrong. 
Nearly a month ago, all communications from the outpost ceased.  A patrol vessel was sent in to investigate, and it, too, was never again heard from.  Since that time the Planet Kask outpost has been known as the Dark Outpost.  Have you the courage to explore its mystery?
Dark outpost is a frighteningly deadly adventure for 3 or more characters of moderate experience from the mind of the revered master of sci-fi, James M. Ward.  Packed with new material, Dark Oupost is more of a mini-campaign than a mere adventure, and it is guaranteed to provide dozens of hours of enjoyment over multiple play sessions for any game master.

In The Depths Of Space No Can Hear You Scream!
 Eldritch Enterprises

Dark Outpost is a very well thought out dungeon in space with an over arching plot to frame it and  it can be used to create a very interesting and cool campaign inside a space station of epic perorations. If the PC's survive that is. The action of this little location driven adventure is well thought out. Its echoes back to a time when Mr. Ward was doing work for both Gamma World and Metamorphosis Alpha first edition. In fact with little work the adventure could be plugged into that game as an extension for a total campaign!
According to the description '
Dark outpost is a frighteningly deadly adventure for 3 or more characters of moderate experience'. That's about right and after using this adventure with Stars Without Number this past weekend. I'd say that your really better off using mid level PCs. There are new pieces of equipment, new monsters, & a ton of maps in this one. But the truth is that the encounters are fun but deadly. The PC's can easily get themselves killed by their own hands very easily. 
The adventure is more of a mini tool box for a science fiction or fantasy game and used correctly could provide a launch pad for a whole campaign from only a few sessions. 

The ideas here hearken back to the early days of many of James Ward's work for TSR but are much more entertaining. It truly feels like Mr. Ward really let his imagination go on this one. 
There's a couple of options in this eighty eight page adventure. One could given a bit of time plug this one straight into Mutant Future and allow the PC's to wake up Metamorphosis Alpha style with no clue to their origins. There is more then enough room here to have an entire Post Apocalyptic Campaign aboard the station and then shoot them right into a failed colony world. 

 The Planet Task Option 

The PC's in this weekend's past game wanted to know more about Planet Kask. There are some details given but I get the feeling that the planet is open to further development by the DM should he or she choose.
 I've taken the 'Failed Interstellar Colony' and the station above using a bit of dramatic licence from 'Star The Next Generation ' and a bit of Issac Asimov's  'Caves of Steel' to fill in some of the colony details.
 The-caves-of-steel-doubleday-cover.jpg

The PC's made it through a few of the encounters but by the time the game was done it was quite late. So the PC's are still out there in space and their continuing the journey through the steel lined corridors of  James Ward's 'Dark Outpost'.
Not bad for a pick up game.

Ten Reasons For Using Dark Outpost 
  1. This is a fun little adventure and very encounter driven! Deadly but in a fun way. 
  2. The challenges that face the PC's force the players to think and react! 
  3. The location has potential to be spun by the DM into a fully realized campaign if he so chooses! 
  4. This isn't a well known adventure and that means there are many twists and turns to be had! 
  5. The maps are fantastic and this is very much a plug + play adventure. 
  6. This is very generic adventure and it can be used with any number of retroclones from X plorers to Stars Without Numbers and Mutant Future. 
  7. Its by James M. Ward and is very well written. 
  8. There is a high customization factor with this adventure! 
  9. At eighty eight pages this isn't a huge adventure to the point of unplayable but it is a mini campaign into itself. This also means it can be used as a plug in for Metamorphosis Alpha 1st edition! 
  10. This adventure is easy, quick, and reliable for reuse for play over and over again! 
For further support go right over to the company website and Mr.Ward's blog right
HERE

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