Urban Hunt - Lamentations of the Flame Princesss & Wretched New Flesh Second Edition Adventure Idea

 So this morning I began to look deeper into a discussion that we had around the table top about Lamentations of the Flame Princess rpg.  And we were talking about the fact that someone once described LoFP as an 'OSR horror rpg disguised as a retroclone'. Now this put me on the trail of using LoFP for a modern horror game. And in various OSR Facebook groups LoFP has become 'the forbidden rpg game' of choice. Mostly because of the controversies surrounding James Raggi IV & his authors. Which has absolutely nothing to do with what we're gonna speak about. Now specifically I want talk about the magic users or wizards in LoFP. 

Wizards at first level get the spell summon. Summon can gate in just about anything literally into an OSR game. We've used this with Castles & Crusades and many other OSR games. 
When the summon spell is cast then we use the Esoteric Creature generator or the handy generator included in the spell's description. 

And while talking about LoFP we sorta fixated on the idea of some high school or college age NPC junior occultist in one of our Wretchedverse rpg campaigns. 
And this is the case with Wretched New Flesh Second edition. 

Wretched New Flesh second edition is available through  the Red Room store,

@biggeekemporium

and

@GiantSlayerRPGs

Imagine if you will that some rebellious teen or college age student gets a hold of an occult or esoteric scroll or book with a summon spell. And opens a door into the supernatural world summoning who knows what into the  mega city of  Avalidad. And here's where the PC's get called into the situation by Zontec. And then the PC's have to pick up the mess and grab this young man or woman before 

he or she unleashes something even worse! 

First Impressions Of The Wretched New Flesh - Second Edition Rpg By The Red Room

"Wretched New Flesh - Second Edition RELEASED! Now available at the Red Room store,

@biggeekemporium

and

@GiantSlayerRPGs

. Wretched New Flesh transports players to a dystopian future inspired by the dark visions of William S. Burroughs, David Cronenberg, William Gibson, JG Ballard and Clive Barker. "

"This surreal future-noir roleplaying game setting combines elements of cyberpunk, biopunk, and psi punk to create a nightmarish world where libertarianism and unchecked corporate power lead to decadence, violence, and oppression. 648 pages stock full of new setting information and expanded rules (hacking, forensics, investigation, city building, etc)."

Wretched New Flesh - Second Edition Rpg was sent to me by it's authors the other day. And WNF 2nd is a six hundred & forty eight page beast of an Rpg. Wretched New Flesh takes place in the not so distant future or is it?! This is a surreal Science Fictional and Fantasy universe with a Neo Noir asthetic. And Earth as we have known it has changed in dramatic ways. According to Wretched New Flesh 2nd edition; "In this alternate reality, instead of reintegrating the International Zone territory (formerly administered by France, Spain, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Sweden, and the United States) back into Tangiers, the Moroccan state made a deal with an international conglomerate of several corporations interested in investing in northern Africa." Now imagine that the future of Earth is controlled by some of the most evil and dangerous corporations to manufacture the world in which we live. The world of the mega city of  Avalidad has changed & expanded.  
Basically, the newer incarnation of the  Wretched Rpg rules have been back incorporated into the Wretched New Flesh - Second Edition Rpg, and most of the optional Wretched New Flesh optional rules have been reigned into the newest incarnation. And best of all it's 99.0% cross compatible with all of the other Wretchedverse rpg titles.

But is it worth grabbing The Wretched New Flesh - Second Edition Rpg?! In a word oh yes! The Red Room has pulled out all of the stops and the mega city of  Avalidadis even more dangerous. You've got new factions, back compitability, new takes on monsters and NPC's, old NPC's upgraded, dangerous cracks in New Flesh's reality as the Beyond takes hold. New threats, and old threats threading thier way through the adventures within the mega city of  Avalidad. The powers & princedoms of the Beyond have been upgraded as well. There's lots and lots of changes to the Wretched New Flesh setting that we know and love. 
Is Wretched New Flesh Second edition actually usable?! In a word yes! The mega city of  Avalidad can host anything from OSR super heroes to surreal horror plus more! 

Further OSR Monster Thoughts On Horde Wars Basic D12 Rpg System By Blackwall Games

 To tell the truth I've been dropping the ball on Horde Wars Basic rpg as of late. Sure we reviewed Horde Wars  here on the blog. And Horde Wars Basic is an excellent game & my only reserve about has been being able to put time aside to spend more time with it. The D12 system is very well defined & Horde Wars itself lays out the rpg rules very nicely. And one of the things I love about Horde Wars Basic is that it's a complete game unto itself.

Monsters are actually highly dangerous and able to hold thier own against adventurers. Take for example the Zombie Runner; "
Zombie Runner [Monster] Defense: 6 Hit Points: 12 Land Speed: 7 Combat Spaces Size: Medium Fitness Reflexes Senses Willpower +3 +3 Protection: Blunt, Cold, Umbral Immunity: Disease, Paralysis, Poison, Toxic Perception: Standard Skills: +4 Athletics, +2 Combat, +2 Investigate, +2 Stealth Traits Flanker You deal an extra die of damage against Creatures that are adjacent to you and at least one of your allies. Undead You ignore Morale. You do not need to eat or breathe and cannot benefit from Healing. When you are reduced to zero Hit Points, your body falls apart. Actions Bite [Natural Weapon] Make an Attack for 1d8 Toxic Damage. If you damage a Creature with a Critical Hit, he gains a level of Affliction. Claws [Natural Weapon] Make an Attack for 1d10 Slashing Damage. You score a Critical Hit on an Attack Roll of 11 or 12." The D12 system make it really easy to get the PC's into the action. and those familar with the 'world's most popular fantasy role playing game will be on similar but not quite the same ground. Key differences between D&D style  games and Horde Wars Basic is that Horde Wars has it's monsters and NPC's with loads of flavor. 
There is a campaign setting baked into the midst of the monsters, treasures, etc. all with the Horde Wars confines. Monsters have umbridge when it comes to adventurers. The adventurers are set up to face the monsters and NPC's within Hord Wars Basic. The monsters and NPC's of Horde Wars Basic have agency and reasons to harm adventurers. Plus there's expansion of the treasures and artifacts belonging to the monsters and NPC's. Giving further agendas for interactions between the adventurers and the monsters.  More to come! 

Review & Commentary On Horde Wars Basic D12 Rpg System By Blackwall Games

 "Horde Wars is a fast paced Medieval Fantasy D12 RPG.  Horde Wars Basic includes the first four levels of play and over 100 Beasts, Monsters and NPCs to battle.  Character creation rules, a starting adventure, sample town, and treasure generation tables are included.  There are also seven pre-generated Characters." 

So I grabbed Horde Wars Basic tonight at the recommendation of a friend. Horde Wars Basic is a D12 based system and one that I've been wanting  to grab. For the past couple of months through the OSR grape vine there have been drips and drabs coming out about Horde Wars Basic.

Horde Wars Basic D12 Rpg System By Blackwall Games is a complete rpg pdf of close to 194 pages for five dollars over at Big Geek Emporium. What sets Horde Wars Basic apart is three things. 1. Horde Wars Basic is a complete game unto itself. Horde Wars allows you to play a human, dwarf, halfling, elf, or orc straight up.  Horde Wars has sample adventures, complete rules, NPC monsters, etc. all ready to go. And it does this by keeping rules based around the D12 rpg system.  Careers include knights,deep delver, assassin, skald, viking, warlord, etc. the system is easy to learn, fast paced, and very quick on it's feet. The HW rpg is a light weight easy to access rpg. The game is very much the child of the 'world's most popular fantasy rpg but Horde Wars Basic is it's own entity.  Horde Wars Basic hits different because it's systems are geared for starting to play straight out of the box. Five to ten minutes for character creation and then  your character race, start rolling your stats, selecting your class, getting your starting gear and then, let the session begin! It's that simple. Roll a d12 against a skill or a challenge, add modifiers and measure success or failure.

Horde Wars Basic D12 Rpg System is set up for actual play from a one shot to a full on campaign this rpg can handle the style of play that you want. This is a very well constructed rpg from the ground up! Hoard Wars Basic favors the players with a unique OSR style of game that has everything you need to get into the world of Horde Wars Basic . The game comes with sample adventures, NPC's, monsters and more. At five dollars I highly recommend Horde Wars Basic D12 Rpg System for the OSR DM & players who are looking for a streamlined and different style of fantasy rpg. 

Review & Commentary On The OSR Adventure V1 Tragedy at Taigon’s Falls By Randy Nichols For Your OSR & Old School Game Campaign

 "The calamity that befell Merrin Olson’s trade convoy must not be repeated. The wealthy merchant has hired you and your companions as a vanguard for his next delivery from Shadevale to Black River. A simple “guard the caravan” mission turns into something more sinister connected to the dark history of the region involving dark cults as well as dragons. Will the PCs step up to solve the mystery of the Tragedy at Taigon’s Falls or are they just in it for the great pay offered by their patron from Shadevale?" 

V1 Tragedy at Taigon’s Falls By Randy Nichols clocks in at twenty two pages including maps. The layout for V1 Tragedy at Taigon’s Falls is high quality and easy to read. The PC's become emeshed in the machinations of a cult of evil and horror. V1 moves along at a good clip and presents a solid 2-5 level OSRIC or Advanced Dungeons & Dragons adventure module. As a mid tier module V1 does a good job of getting the adventurers involved in & emeshed in the module's events. 
There's a lack of A.I. artwork & traditional artork that really makes V1 Tragedy at Taigon’s Falls harken back to classic old school modules. V1 Tragedy at Taigon’s Falls  is a real mid level module by an author who actually plays old school games. And this means that the encounters are geared towards adventurers who can & will need to handle thier business. The monsters are tough and highly dangerous in V1 Tragedy at Taigon’s Falls. The encounters are not balanced but geared around the old school asthetic. And this really works in ' Tragedy at Taigon’s Falls' favor. 
V1 Tragedy at Taigon’s Falls centers itself around wilderness,encounters, and solid actual play. The author doesn't spare the descriptions in V1 and goes right into well thoughtout explainations for monsters, rooms, encounters, etc. 

  The DM and players could use Lamentations of the Flame Princess,  OSRIC, Castles & Crusades, Mentzer Dungeons & Dragons or Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st or 2nd edition to run ' V1 Tragedy at Taigon’s Falls'. With some work one could even run it with The Palladium Fantasy Rpg. But V1 is really geared around AD&D first & second edition in my humble opinion. 
The DM needs to realize that V1 is a solid level 2 or 3 PC adventure. There are many points where a PC could easily die & this is a good thing because it evokes the old school or OSR feel. V1 isn't a module that catters to it's audience's expectations nor it's players. V1 presents itself on it's own terms and expects you to play it with gusto. 
And it's the old school asthetic that hits hard with 'V1 Tragedy at Taigon’s Falls' so bring a few replacement PC's to the table top. The module can and will hit the party hard in some areas. This isn't a critism but a feature of V1 as a module itself. I give V1 Tragedy at Taigon’s Falls a solid four outta of five! 

OSR Review & Commentary On Welcome to St Cloud By Miguel Ribeiro For The Wretchedverse Rpg Line or Any OSR Horror Rpg

 

"A surreal horror scenario, heavily inspired by David Lynch’s cult TV show Twin Peaks (1990), but it leans on other sources, like John Carpenter’s The Fog (1980), The League of Gentleman (1999), Carnivàle, (2003) and 1970s slasher flicks."

" There isn’t a specific mythology, and even the amount of supernatural and/or paranormal phenomena can be easily modified to suit different tastes. This is the Wretchedverse release with new plot hooks, more random events, locations and NPCs and a cover by Jon "Basic Expert" Torres"'

Welcome to St Cloud By Miguel Ribeiro is the latest offering by the folks at the Red Room and it's a very large beast of a campaign clocking in at well over two hundred pages. This is not a small campaign town or city. Welcome to St Cloud is a huge homage to all things David Lynch and it's easy to see why. St. Cloud is the type of town that can be dropped into your modern day OSR campaign with little issue but really works with is the Wretchploitation rpg or the Wretched Darkness rpg. Reading through Welcome to Saint Cloud it becomes obvious that Wretchploitation is really the rpg that I'd use to run this campaign; "Welcome to St. Cloud is somewhere in-between a campaign setting and a scenario and can be adapted to any system, though it is meant to be a scenario for the Wretchedverse, especially for our horror/ dark urban fantasy game Wretched Darkness. It is surreal horror in nature since it was heavily inspired by David Lynch's cult TV show Twin Peaks (1990), but it leans on other sources, like John Carpenter's The Fog". The reasoning for this is simple with such an early Nineties asthetic Wretchploitation pivots easily into position to run this campaign. 

Welcome to Saint Cloud is devided into campaign sections with major plot hooks under each section 
St.Cloud is a town with secrets and lots of them. Each NPC has stats and then secrets as well as plot hooks. Let's take one our average highschoolers in St.Cloud; " OCCUPATION: Student/ Halley's Department Store Parttime Clerk (Sports Department) Common Citizen Level 3 Health: 5 Defense: 12 Move: 12 Resolve: 6 Experience: 1 +3 bonus to Brawling rolls, +2 to Damage DESCRIPTION: He's still a student at St. Cloud High at 19, maybe not because he's a complete imbecile, but because he can't imagine doing anything other than being in school. He's a very robust and tough young man and star of the school's football team. He's Simon Black's friend and escapade partner. Mike enjoys a good bar fight and dares any man in St. Cloud to try to knock him down. He used to date Donna Anderson. Although she has a relationship with Joshua Keller, Mike still goes out with her once in a while. SECRET LIFE: He knows about Glenn Cleveland's parties and wants to be invited, but his older brother wants to keep him 94 out of it. Mike can't understand why, but without an invitation, there's no way to get in. Mike Nelson has a Mickey Mouse tattoo on his chest. It's not really a secret, but he only shows it to people he believes he can trust, usually girls, most of the time Donna. He will take off his shirt and moves his chest muscles in a way that creates the impression the mouse is dancing while saying strange, nonsensical phrases in a low-pitched voice. What does it mean? Absolutely nothing, but it's weird and leads Donna to sexual ecstasy, so it must be some kind of power. PLOT HOOK: Mike Nelson becomes determined to crash one of Glenn Cleveland's secret parties, putting himself in danger and causing conflict with his older brother Andy." 

"Welcome to Saint Cloud" is a lower tier power level campaign and it wears its subtly proudly as weaves in an out of it's plots. Welcome to Saint Cloud isn't a boring campaign at all but plays like a hybrid between Lynch's Mulhuland Drive, Twin Peaks, and even a bit of the first Hellraiser film. 
Welcome to Saint Cloud walks a fine line between adventure resource & full on deadly campaign. The town of St.Cloud is full realized & fleshed out. And now that it's been properly brought over to the Wretchedverse I'm intrigued to see what else the Red Room does with it. 
Welcome to Saint Cloud has a ton of plot hooks, adventure content, and real possibilities to keep a horror or even an investigative campaign going for years. The quality is up too the standards of other Red Room products & the town is perfect to enhance any OSR or Wretchedverse horror campaign. 

Welcome to St Cloud By Miguel Ribeiro For The Wretchedverse Rpg Line or Any OSR Horror Rpg Is Available Right Over Here. 

Review & Commentary On Simple Modernity By The Scrying Dutchman Basic Rules For Modern Day Themed Play For Favorite Retroclone rpg

 Now I make no secret that firearms are something that comes up all of the time in modern OSR rpg's all of the time. The Scrying Dutchman has been someone that's been on my radar for a long time now. And Simple Modernity is an OSR optional add on B/X firearms suppliment that's been a long time coming. 

Simple Modernity is a fast reading, quick paced OSR system for firearms & those who use them. These rules can be used with your favorite OSR game. As a rules set  Simple Modernity kicks ass. You've got an excellent selection of modern themed OSR PC classes who use & twist firearms within thier professions. Soldiers, assassins, snipers, medics, etc are all here ready to be dragged & dropped into your favorite OSR system. Need a new class for your Wretchedverse game?! These are perfect canadiates. Want shotgun or other automatic military firearm for your OSR style game? Again it's right here! 
How about grenades!? Or  selection of  armor for your latest warzone?! The Scrying Dutchman  is your man with wide selection of firearms to peek your adventurer's intest or ruin their day! 
Need a main battle tank to take out that powersuited player?! Again  Simple Modernity has you covered! Need equipment for your secret agents or soldiers?!  Simple Modernity  has you covered! 
What can you actually do with  Simple Modernity!? How about run your favorite classic modules from the world's most popular fantasy rpg with a group of OSR soldiers or soldiers of fortune?! And while this isn't a new idea it could run like clock work! 
How about stranding a group of soldiers on LoFP's Carcosa?! You can do that with  Simple Modernity. Clocking in at forty one pages of firearms action pounding goodness  Simple Modernity has good layout, solid easy to read charts, & runs less then a modern news print magazine!  Simple Modernity  is a low cost, viable, reliable set of firearms rules that you can add onto your favorite retroclone!