Walking Backward In The OSR - - Using OSR & Dungeons erm Boot Hill & Horror Fantasy Resources For John Carpenter's Thing From Another World One Shot

 'The town of Brimstone Arizona has gone silent over the last two weeks & its only now that you've been called in. The Foundation has reason to believe that something from outside has invaded the town. You've been called in to handle it.' 



Time to do a one shot Con style adventure  tonight of the  Veterans of the Supernatural Wars rpg & after I stumbled into blog post by Jason Vey for doing Pulps or  super heroes in the game. This is when we decided to go ahead & run with it. The reason is simple two of our usual players are not making it because of work scheduling issues. So the legacy of horror of Brimstone continues tonight with a modern update to the town of Brimstone. From the "Taming of Brimstone " for the Boot Hill Rpg  from The Dragon issue # 71 now an isolated  modern tourist trap. A place where you can get away from the modern age of the internet, the smart phone, & settle down for a 'real West' experience. Brimstone has quite the history at my table top.  But a plane crash interrupts the peaceful goings on as assimilations begin. The Party (from the Party science fiction/super hero books ) is  a quisi secret military origanization has sent in its operatives to neutralize the alien horrors before they spread. 

This time the PC's are in for the fight of their lives as a 'Thing' has been busy on a small ranch just outside of town. Thanks to David Baymiller's OSR libary all of the heavy lifting has been done for me with some fantastic John Carpenter's Thing From Another World OSR stats right here. 

Basically we're going back to basics here using some of the ideas from the old Dark Horse Thing From Another World comicbooks.  The isolation & dangerous proto Lovecraftian atmopshere of the location will add to tonight's event. 

Strange lights have been seen over Brimstone as certain officials who are a part of 'the Party's' psychic division have been having strange vistions & dreams about the tourist trap town. There are a couple of reasons to go in this direction:

1. Super fast set up & run time for this mini adventure. 
2. The PC's are entirely expendable any living will be rotated into another adventure. 
3. Perfect excuse to use Tim Brannan's Witch links
4. Speed of execution 
5. Changing nature of the monster.
6. Another excuse to abuse Brimstone as a location of terror. 

Walking Backward In The OSR - - Using OSR & Dungeons erm Boot Hill & Horror Fantasy Resources For A Weird Western Game Campaign

 
"Brimstone is a young town that is already feeling its age. It sprang up in the scrub lands of northern Arizona, in anticipation of the railroad route that would pass that way. A few merchants and businessmen managed to make a decent living from a population that was only partly transient and generally very quiet. Then the rumors started — rumors of silver to be found in the nearby mountains. And, unfortunately for Brimstone, some of the rumors were true. The population of the town swelled with visitors, people who didn’t care about Brimstone nearly as much as they cared about themselves. Some of them were prospectors willing to work for their riches, but most of them were criminals and saddle tramps expecting to line their pockets at the expense of someone else’s wallet — if not his life."

Way back on December 21 there was talk on this blog about doing an urban campaign using the  'Veterans of the Supernatural Wars Rpg' using OSR & old school resources. But a conversation with my wife about 'No Country for Old Men' & the  Justified television show has my mind's brain turning. What would happen if a (never mind a witch queen war) Witch war or Occult war became a Range War?! Imagine if you will that during the 'Sheep Wars' the supernatural races became embroiled with each other over grazing rights not only of sheep but possibly the newly expanding West. This of course might include arriving settlers as well. 

Well the young & upcoming town of Brimstone back in 1887 on the Texas/Arizona border is an unsung chapter in American history. Actually its from the classic TSR era of Dragon magazine issue #71 adventure 'The Taming of Brimstone' written by Donald Mumma.. This was the centerfold module. But there's no Old Western guns or equipment?! That's easily fixed with my friend Mark Hunt's Tall Tales BX Wild West RPG. 

Need even more old Western B/X flavored goodness?! Faster then a plate of beans in a Mell Brooks Blazing Saddles scene we've got a Tall Tales BX Wild West RPG New classes. And this is a 'pay what you' want title adding in a bit of the new stuff. 

Need even more Western OSR goodness!? Well my buddy David Baymiller OSR library has two flavors Victoria & Western.  This includes even more Western material here. 

Because 'Veterans of the Supernatural Wars Rpg' works very well with B/X Dungeons & Dragons as well as older editions it means that the whole affair bleeds right into Brimstone. A small town in the middle of a supernatural conflict. Want to really add in some random  nastiness because humans are disappearing & both sides have to call a truce. Take David's version of the Jeeper Creeper's Creeper waking up & starting to collect body parts after its twenty three  year cycle. 

Yeah, yeah, the monster is excellent to add into the mix as an unexpected supernatural menace to take out Brimstone towns folk & gunfighters.. And those are just some of the ideas that this campaign work up brings to mind.  Brimstone is a town in bad need of taming & the PC's could be called in under the guise of hired guns or simply ranch hands. The supernatural or occult element adds a whole other aspect to this mix. Brimstone might take months to deal with the trouble that could result.