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 The Fantastic Four Compendium (Marvel Super Heroes, Ma4) By David Martin (Author) is way, way, out of date from the Fantastic Four comics.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! 
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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. 

In Between Here & There - Cities Without Number, Stars Without Number, & Trey Causey's Strange Stars Rpg -

 The crew of our space truck enjoyed some R&R after last session but got a hot assignment from from an R&D group of Ibglibdishpan. The assignment is to check out an unknown hyperspacial gateway! The crew got the coorandantes from the bio computer data banks and then hit hyperspace in thier space rig. This session picks right up from where we left off last session!   This campaign is based on Trey Causey's Strange Stars OSR Rule Book

So the party had a weird encounter in hyperspace with some rather nasty parasite like creatures. They weren't prepared to deal with the onslaught of the creatures! There were some injuries and 2 infections from the horrid Xill from the classic Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first edition Fiend Folio. Navigator Kim and ensign Ohara were both infected by the Xill's machinations. 

So they ended up in medbay & the rest of the crew dealt with the horrors on the outside of the ship. Both of the party's wizards quickly banished the Xill but it took precious time! Both crew members were put into cryosleep. The ancient hyperspacial ring looked very creepy. And the crew had to delay exploration as the ship needed immediate repairs. 
The ship was suddenly surrounded by hundreds of glowing humanoids. The Tav of Sharing are a flock of Voidgliders Vacuum-dwelling sophonts who offered the party much needed assistence and medical care. 
The party took full advantage of the Tav of Sharing's offer & a surgeon among the Tav looked too the two crewman. Shara of the Sharing is a surgeon & doctor who had spent time among humans training on thier biology and other alien species. 
The Xill embroyies were removed in a grueling eight hour operation and then disposed off. 
In the meantime the Tav of Sharing's members were questioned about the ancient  hyperspacial gate. The Tav basically consider the gateway thier terrority & said that it was a part of an ancient intergalatic war. It has not operated within thier lifetime and it used too belong to an other ancient alien race. 

Because the crew are now out a navigator, the oped to try and recruit a new navigator as a new hire on. Green Myra a voidglider navigator stepped into the position as pay and board were ironed out during the game. Crew is thinking of heading back to the  Station GH-34 to drop off thier injured crewman who are now in need of serious medical attention. 

Octogorilla At The Ancient Fort - Bloody Arduin mixed with classic Castles & Crusades - Session Report

 And we're back after I came down with a 24 hour illness! The cobwebs are cleared & I got a chance to run a bit of Castles & Crusades mixed with Bloody Arduin. So I took over a C&C game from DM Charles and the players were exploring an 'abandoned' fort on the edge of a frontier era. Think late Roman Empire mixed with Castles & Crusades. It's just a little past sunset & the party is getting ready to clear out the first level of this fort! 
The party awaits outside the fort to see what predators are awakening. Suddenly there is a shrill cry & the party see the shape of an octogorilla shimmy down the outside of one of the fort's towers! 

The party has zero desire to mess with this apex predator! The sound of it's heavy breathing and shrill cry echos across the field and then it speeds off into the under growth and there is the sound of a scream from a nearby elk! The fiend has brought down a buck! And it powerful tentacles wrap around it's kill and head off into it's alternative lair! 
The party skulks off into the darkness toward the ruined tower on the left & have on good information that fantastic treasure was left behind because the forces of Chaos bore down on the fort too quick. They overran the place and moved on. Thus leaving behind the guadians of Order's banner, spear of destiny, and most of all the treasury. They had this on good authority after paying a veteran soldier of the fortress for that info and a map. 
The party made it's way to the ruined tower and the gapping hole that was the side wall. They planted spikes, ropes, and immediately lowered themselves into the gloom. The smell was unbearable as the scattered bones and remains of dozens and dozens of humanoids were visible all around them. There toward the back were the chests, banner, and spear glowing in the gloom. As they made thier way too them. Two blackish rays and beams hit the party square sending the fighters balling across the carnage. 
The thing that rose in the gloom looks decayed and horrid a moster covered in eyes from a nightmare! There are few words to describe the thing but it rises from under the bones a vision of terror made real! 
The party has the advantage and needs to press it! The Eldritch Eye takes stock of it's latest victims and begins to dish out punshment. The eye rays crack the air in three places as the party's magus attacks with a fire ball! The illusionist uses a rapidly revolving light show for a distraction and there's one of the fighters making a rapid recovery. 
The beam hits the Dwarven warrior turning him instantly to stone and skins the hand of the Elven prince. Darius is able to shrug off most of the effects but his bow is rendered useless and he only aquired it three towns back! 
The thieves scramble over the rubble and quickly check the treasures and give a thumbs up in the torch light! And this is when the party's  violence brings the shrill hoot & squak of a familar octogorilla back! 
 Tentacles begin slowly lowering into the gloom of the bone choked room! The party is trapped between these two titans! This is where we ended it until next week! 

The undead  Eldritch  Eye of course comes from James Mishler Games's Expanded Monsters: Eldritch Eyes!  The Eldritch Eye was left behind by the forces of Chaos as they moved through the area as a sort of living landmine. 

Zaibatsu/ Hostile Rpg Campaign -The Highwayman Murder! Session Report

 "There is a world, just beyond now, where reality runs a razor-thin seam between fact and possibility; where the laws of the present collide with the crimes of tomorrow. Patrolling these vast outlands is a new breed of lawman, guarding the fringes of society’s frontiers, they are known simply as ‘Highwaymen’... and this is their story.."
The party is on route to 'Dust Bowl Arizona' on thier way under a contract to help Dwayne Desmond a Highwayman whose investigation comes from a cargo from Cyclops. 
  The radioactive cargo has sickened two different towns Desmond went missing. Because the United States Police Force has been so stretched thin. They've called in the PC's 'the September Group'. 

'Dust Bowl' has a corporate cop shop handling it's security & small town infrastructure. The Dust Bowl police have impounded Dwayne's truck & have been holding him in a specially designed jail cell set up originally by a minor corporation that pulled out. 'Dust Bowl' police are blaming Dwayne for the deaths. 

The Highwaymen are the last gasp of the federal marshal program which has been absorbed by the United States Police force. The Highwaymen organization has been updated with corporate weaponry,equipment, and special vehicles. They operate as federal agents, inspectors, agents, and special cargo specialists. 
We got to Dust Bowl & ran smack into 'The Devil's Forsaken' gang who were convinced that Dwayne was a clone! 

We were allowed to see Dwayne & busted him out of the special cell only to have him turn on our party! He managed to kill two of our number before the 'Devil's Forsaken agents took him out! Dwayne actually was a renagade clone who had murdered the real Dwayne two months ago! A code read of the clone's pupils proved it!
We went to the secondary objective which was the truck and the cargo. 'Dust Bowl's police wanted to keep it. Our Federal contract had the vehicle as the secondary objective. We checked the cargo and it was not radioactive! However there was radioactive generator that had been placed aboard! 
Before shooting commenced we satdown with the corporate cops and showed them our contract. Truck & cargo secured! We headed out! We're a hundred miles outside of Dust Bowl and then we get attacked by two Rhinos! 
This is where we ended on a cliff hanger by DM Paul!  
Notes - This entire game was based on Eighties cultclassic NBC tv show 'The Highwayman' & we took the entire concept and dropped it into our Zabibatsu/Hostile rpg campaign. 

Everything In World War Two & Your Mother - The Free Marvel Super Heroes rpg Netbook Adventure 'In The Shadows of Evil'- Middle East Madness Session Report 2

 So if you've been following our World War II campaign 'In The Shadows of Evil' which is a free netbook adventure. We really dug in as we took a hook flight to Egypt aboard a very nosey passenger plane that had been hauling troops only a few hours earlier. The flight smelled of cigs, desperation, and uncertainty of very young soldiers. We accompanied by Dr. Henry Jones & events were moving fast. We just met with the Invaders a day ago. And tangled with Baron Blood only a few days before that! 

'In The Shadows of Evil' Compiled, Written and Designed by Christopher P. Tyne moves at a very quick pace with it's encounters and we needed to slow things down a bit. We needed to get our bearings and then meet with the General Happy Sam Sawyer. We knew Sawyer by reputation as our outfit had close ties with Army Intelligence. 
We got settled on base and went into our civilian outfits. We had a story cover for our being in Egypt. And then we bumped into Lois Lane of the Daily Bugle. And she was the last person that we wanted to see. The endless questions plus the drama with her boy scout was what we wanted to avoid. Besides we  knew that Superman was in Japan on a sabotage mission. 
We ditched Lois Lane with a couple of rolls and ducked down several alleys and then made our way too the establishment where we were meeting the General. 
The Thieves quarter certainly lived up to it's name and our meeting with our contacts. We got the location  of the Shrine El Shaur just outside of Cairo and after a bit of an encounter with thieves. Our transport arrangements were by camel and the trip was pretty easy. 
This had us on edge and the shrine looked like a paradise on Earth compared to the desert. The shrine had been cataloged but not opened. This screamed traps and whatnot to us as we sought  the Jewel of Ozymandias. Dr.Jones disarmed traps and we did a bit of dungeon crawling. Then it was confrontation time with the four horsemen of the Apocalypse and the guardian Ozymandias. The fight was not going well so we parleyed with the guardian. Speaking with a living stone monument was interesting. 

We were eventually given the jewel after a very lengthy discussion with the guardian.  The guardian explained that the jewel was merely a tool but we should fear what was coming afterward. Now it was time to move on to England for the next item of power. 
The guardian's last words were a bit chilling, 'Can one come so close to darkness and power while not being changed'. 

Review & Commentary On Rogue World By Perry Brulotte For The Clement & Earth Sector Rpg's

 "A rogue planet is hurtling through Hub Subsector and a scientist wants your crew to take him to the planet to study it. Will such a mission even be possible? Will it end it failure? Or will your characters fall victim to the dangers on the Rogue World?"

"Rogue World is a short adventure by Perry Brulotte which is designed to take your characters (or the included pre-generated characters) to a world which left its star long ago and is traveling through open space. It is an adventure fraught with perils once they arrive on this rogue planet. The adventure is perfect for a convention game, to be added into an existing campaign, or be the starting point for a new campaign in Clement Sector." Rogue World By Perry Brulotte is coming out on July 11 in the Independence Games store and Drivethrurpg. The guys over at Independence Games were kind enough to send me an advanced copy for review. Boy, I'm glad they did! Clocking at forty six pages this adventure takes prime advantage of both the Earth and Clement sector. Rogue World provides the DM with a solid 2d6 exo and exploration module that will both challenge and intrigue the PC's. This adventure is a fully formed exploration drop in adventure for both the Clement & Earth Sector rpg.

And Rogue World could provide the bed rock for a 2d6 campaign easily. How? There are three ways. Solidly done NPC's for the DM to pull from. Well thought out encounters, and a highly effecctive series of adventure encounters. The whole cloth leg of a campaign highlights the ancient aspect of the Earth or Clement sector.

Meaning that the Earth or Clement sector have humans as the latest tenants in a very large roster. Rogue World is well written adventure, nicely edited, & solidly done cartography. What does Rogue World provide the player's PC's?! Well plenty of adventure opportunities, NPC conflict and interactions, 2d6 action, and lots of problem solving. Rogue World also gets the PC's deeply involved in local affairs of the NPC's. Alien lifeforms in Rogue World can deeply and suddenly become very real in both the Clement & Earth sector rpg campaigns. Rogue World does all of the above in forty six pages of well thought out Clement sector weirdness. Because this adventure fits the Science Fiction Western frontier astethic in spades. Where does Rogue World fit in the larger picture of the Clement and Earth sector?! It can easily fit anywhere that the DM wants it too because this adventure fits whole cloth into a DM's campaign setting. Rogue World is a solid Clement or Earth sector adventure especially if you as DM want to slide into a campaign!

Marvel Super Heroes Rpg Thoughts on Marvel Comics Crystar The Crystal Warrior Saga

 So last year I covered  & reviewed The Marvel Super Heroes Rpg The Sourebook of Crystar Crystal Warrior .The warriors of Crystallium have certainly gotten airplay on our table top recently. And I'm thinking of dumping the Chaos mercenaries of Moltar & the wizard Zardeth into both our Marvel Super Heroes &  Ascendant rpg campaigns. Crystallium is a violatile Chaos/Order world in spades as the Demon Lord's forces were in retreat. You can find out more about The Marvel Super Heroes Rpg The Crystar The Crystal Warrior Sourcebook here.  

The violent elemental forces of Crystallium are perfect to be sandwiched into the Marvel Celtic Otherworld. This is especially true when Moltar and his lava warriors were allied with Morgan Le Fay. So could Morgan Le Fay make another push for the Marvel 616 universe or one of it's numerous variants?! 

There have been interactions between Crystar & members of the Marvel 616 universe notably Dr.Strange and Alpha Flight. My question becomes would Crystallium remain within the pocket universe of the Otherworld?! Somehow down deep I doubt it. 
During the Eighties within my uncle's Marvel Super Heroes rpg campaign Moltar and co clashed with the Avengers and our own group of heroes numerous time. Crystallium became the origin point for our own homegrown hero Amber who passed through the crystal portal of the wizard Argos. Argos is an almagam of both Order & Chaos. He was instrumental in the creation of the hero Amber, she was a homegrown hero who was created after being saved by Argos from certain death. 

Amber has remained on Crystallium since the Nineties and it might be time to mount a mission to save her. Her powers were elemental in nature and being able to turn back the tide of Chaos. She's kinda been on the back burner after Hanna her player went off to college. 
However one of my players and DM Paul made reference to her over last weekend. Orginally we left her in the care of Argos on Crystallium. 




 

Review & Commentary On The Darker Rpg By The Red Room

 DARKER RPG - RELEASED

"Darker is a contemporary mature horror RPG, OSR-compatible, challenging you to confront themes of faith, morality, and the human condition amidst escalating supernatural peril. Face the true nature of Good and Evil, moral erosion, and humanity’s decline, investigate modern-day horrors hidden behind a façade of normalcy and tackle contemporary issues like corporate power, ideological grooming, and the erosion of traditional values."

Darker is a full on infernal rpg with huge occult overview with the Creator dead. Hellblazer or Spawn could easily be done with Darker as a whole cloth campaign. Darker clocks in a five hundred pages & bridges both Wretched Rpg & other Red Room rpg. This is a mature game & not for kids! 
Darker plays into the Eighties & Nineties classic horror movies  & films. Darker hits the Biblical & the Revelation rpg vibe hard. The Darker Biblical feels like a bold mixture of supernatural & infernal elements in spades. Darker plugs into these elements with gusto. What works is the classless vs the rpg skill system as a whole cloth rpg. Darker rpg takes the Biblical/Revelation's feel to the limit. 
The infernal of Darker is brought into the spotlight! Strap in as Darker takes the PC's for a ride. Because it takes over our comtempory reality & brings it hard into Darker's Biblical reality.
The world is already on the fifth ring of Hell with a clockwork Heaven and an absentee God who happens to be dead. The PC's are there to hold the line against the infernal. This doesn't mean that your PC's are good guys.Can Darker work with the Expanded Wretched Rpg? In a word, the  Darker can work with the Expanded Wretched Rpg system. 

So at it's core Darker is easily adapted into the Expanded Wretched and other OSR rpg systems quite easily even though it doesn't use a level class system or an all encompassing skill system. At it's core it works on two levels. Which means that Darker is a solid Biblical Horror OSR game in spades. 
Darker is a game that bridges the gap between horror & Biblical weirdness quite well. 

OSR Commentary & Ascendant Rpg Session Report Five - Capital City Casefiles #2: Served Cold By Karl Gustav- Evolutionary's Revolution

 "“It may have taken a slide down the evolutionary ladder to enable me to slough off my madness, but I am lucid once more. Furthermore, my perspective on both the Human race and my life’s work has been profoundly altered by the experience. I have been to both ends of Human evolution. I have known first-hand the humble origins of life on this sphere, as well as the ultimate genetic destiny of the Earth’s highest lifeform, Man."
During last week's game by DM Paul The High Evolutiionary showed up! And this wasn't a guest spot. But a reveal! We had to think fast or  we would be on the end of a Marvel heavy hitter!  Note that DM Paul is using the High Evolutionary profle from Write Ups. org.  & his origin ties into our Ascendant Marvel/DC comics campaign. We were found out! 

We dug into our collective comic book lore and addressed the High Evolutionary citing the fact that wiping out the entire drug scene of could damage the genetic potential of the gene pool of our city by eliminating the random elements that mutation needed. Note that there was no way our party was going to take the High Evolutionary. This guy has gone toe to toe with the Hulk and Galactus. And survived! Jason Kilpatrick the Cybernetisit rolled really well 
He pondered this for a moment as his fanatics in power armor surrounded us. The High Evolutionary is a shadowy figure in DM Paul's campaign that runs a cult for the betterment of mankind and it's glorious destiny of evolution. He's mostly seen running ads in the back of New Age magazines.  
Then suddenly he says that he has to consider the data more carefully and then get back to us. He will with draw from the city for the moment. Bludville is safe for the moment but he would have to draw samples of our genetic material for further consideration. No problem with that. The High Evolutionary & his forces  would be leaving the city by the next day. 

We then had to report into Dreadnaught Security about these developments and then move on to our next assignment. 

Rise of Moltar -Hyperborea Rpg From Marvel's Saga of Crystar 1983 Comic Book Series & Action Figures Line -Session Report

 During tonight's Hyperborea Rpg session our party was supposed to save an Ixian merchant and his daughter from the clutches of bandits. Little did we realize exactly what were getting ourselves into! We made ourway into the belly of an extinct volcano & ran smack into Lavamen! We made our way into what we thought was an extinct volcano but all around were ruined suits of lava covered armor twice the size of our adventurers. And then we came to a pool of lava. From out of the depths came the face of evil & Chaos incarnate! Moltar and his warriors arose! 

In DM Paul's version of Hyperborea the time of Ragnork attracted the forces of Chaos and this included the armies of Moltar The Ruthless!  And apparently the bastard servant of Chaos has been there ever since. For some reason he has awokened now! We did not stick around to find out why. And simply saved the merchant and his daughter then left! 

We made our way back to a local village to drop off the merchant & saw swaths of destruction left by Moltar and co. This included wrecked cottages, burnt farms, and cleared out temples. We were in no shape to tangle with any horrors at this time. So we hid and camped for the night. 

OSR Review & Commenary On Wretched World By The Red Room For The Revised Wretched Role Playing Game

 "Looking for a freaky theme park to add to your game? Wretched World is here to deliver! This supplement offers everything you need to create a spine-chilling, psychedelic theme park. Dive into a wealth of information, non-player characters, plot hooks and random tables to enhance your game session. Wretched World expands on the quirky 1970s relic theme park featured in Vice: Sandcove Under Fire. Best of all, it’s free for those who purchased that setting."

Wretched World is exactly the right mix of 1970's kitch & absolute menace mixed with mob influences through out. Oh did I mention the supernatural that's lurking just outside of the background. Wretched World is a slightly rundown 70's them park with animatronic characters which has been taken over by Cuban style drug dealers as a way of laundring thier drug earnings. 
We get a complete tour of Wretched World in thirty three pages, the cartography is well done, the editing is solid, and the layout is easy on the eyes. 
Wretched World has a luandry list of NPC's running Wretched World & being as sleazy as possible. They are not putting much money into maintaining the place just enough to let the theme park function. However there is an undercurrent throughout the park of supernatural menace and horror. Horror that is just waiting waiting for PC's to stumble across it. 
Here's where Wretched World gets interesting. Because Wretched World makes an excellent location for Wretched Vigilantes or Wretched Darkness! A few missing children and off you go with your player's PC's! 

Wretched World is primed for a prime evil that could have a gateway into the Beyond. The primary attractions could each have a gateway deep into the heart of the Beyond. 
Or there could be a gateway into the disciplines of pain's lair in the Beyond. Either way the encounters and weirdness of Wretched World is primed to bring into your OSR games! 

We can remember It For You Whole Sale - With Zozer Games Hostile & Zaibatsu rpg's

 Let's pick up the Zaibatsu rpg with our last blog entry here . If memory implants & personality implants could shift a person't entire life and reality?! Could you trust that who you are is really who you are? This is the question that my players are wrestling with. 
What if the a crack clone & replicant hunting group of NPC's called the Devil's Forsaken are not at all what they seem?! 

After introducing Zozer Games's  the HOSTILE Situation Report 012 - The Mine .I've got the players questioning if thier characters are actually themselves or clones who have been mind raped into thinking that thier the genuine article. This happened after the party stumbled into a genetics labatory that they weren't meant to see. 
And then the Devil's Forsaken went after them as clones! And this could be the reality as the PC's are under this assumption that the party is from another universe and they've taken over this universe's Semptember Group. Or is this actually all an elaborate charade by thier cruel corporate overlords!? 

Or is it really the Devil's Forsaken who are the not ex ganger but instead cheap clones who have been given complete mind make overs?! With the clones being used to test and improve the latest batches of combat androids?! The players are pissed but I've got them wrapped up in this false reality or is it?! 
Are the ganger's pasts merely VR simulations and false memories of a Toyako that no longer exists?! 
This is no longer street and corporate conspiracy theory to the player's PC's but reality. A false reality where there are shape shifting androids monitoring the progress of thier products?! 

OSR Review & Commentary On Oh My Lost Darklords By Kabuki Kaiser For Old School Essentials & B/X D&D style OSR Game Systems

 "This is the 1980s, not Hellfire Club, but close enough. C. plays Sadric, his avenger modelled after Elric, the one who wields Blackrazor since we went under a certain white-crested mountain and Y. plays his unstoppable Duellist. I am going with Kurtys Flameblade, my Fighter/Assassin, long before That Time He Was Reincarnated as an Ogre Mage.

A Collection of Thirteen Infamous Classes

for Amoral, Chaotic, and Evil Player Characters"

What is Oh My Lost Darklords? According to the deep introduction into the book; "This manual is a collection of longgone infamous character classes meant for chaotic campaigns where the player characters feature as anti-heroes and even villains rather than guardians. Out of the thirteen classes presented here, a grand total of five allow for neutral characters, and none of them for Lawful ones bar rare exceptions allowed at the referee’s discretion"  And it plugs into the classic versions of B/X versions of the world's most popular fantasy game.  Oh My Lost Darklords  highlights the evil optional PC's. 'Oh My Lost Darklords' plugs right into the original OSE rpg & OSE Advanced  rpg system. 
We get new player characters such as the Avenger, Cultist,Bandit,Bounty Hunter, Dark Mage, Death Knight, Demonist, Witch, Houri, Jester, Red Wizard,  Duelist, & Dark Creeper!  And   Oh My Lost Darklords  is well laid out, solid artwork throughout and brings the hotness for B/X. 

B/X gets the perfect upgrade in the form of  'Oh My Lost Darklords' & hits on several levels. We get variations on the familar PC's and hits the optional villain NPC classes button.  Veteran readers of old Dragon magazine issues will recognize these PC classes but they've been updated for OSE essentially. 
These classes also give the players options for a wide range of PC options at the table top levels.   Oh My Lost Darklords works as a fantastic supplement for OSE. It breaks down these classes & is a solid ulitity piece for B/X!