A blog about sewing machine repairs,but mainly my hobbies which include old school role playing games, science fiction,films, horror, and general geekery. Sit down and stay a spell.
When all the world lay silent in the stars, And moonlight crossed my room with ghostly bars. He whispered hints of weird, unhallowed sight; I followed – then in waves of spectral light Mounted the shimmery ladders of my soul Where moon-pale spiders, huge as dragons, stole – Great forms like moths, with wings of wispy white.
Around the world the sighing of the loon Shook misty lakes beneath the false-dawn’s gleams; Rose tinted shone the sky-line’s minaret; I rose in fear, and then with blood and sweat Beat out the iron fabrics of my dreams, And shaped of them a web to snare the moon." Forbidden Magic (1929) byRobert Ervin Howard
This blog post is going to pick right back up from where we left off here. The moon of Michael Brown's Omega 99 campaign setting isn't quite the Space 1999 first season as we know it. Instead it has its own alien races whom are within their own sphere of alien influence. And its this sphere that pull from the intergalactic circumstances. We think we know what the alien agenda is in the Gerry Anderson U.F.O. television show or Space 1999's first season?! Do we really though?! Think about it for a moment.
The aliens of U.F.O. have been abducting humans for centuries & the characters think they may have a handle on the situation. But if this alternative 1980 follows the Lovecraftian conventions?! Then we & the inhabitants have no real idea of what's going on. Once the monolith on the moon is found ala 2001 a Space Odyssey all bets are off. Humanity is a commodity & its got an expiration date on the package. The alien forces that are behind the monolith on the moon are far more concerned about man's evolution then the Greys are. Even so mankind seems to be a mere commodity. In the spirit of Robert E. Howard's fiction we keep fighting the alien influence even as it devours its occupants. This is so evident in the Marvel Jack King of Comics Kirby's oversized American comic book adaptation of the 1968 film adaptation of 2001 A Space Odyssey.
Jack Kirby artwork from 2001 A Space Odyssey Marvel Adaptation artwork used without permission.
Unofficially within my own head canon these alien forces are the same ones that wretch the moon from its orbit in Space 1999. They are higher dimensional beings that use alien objects to interact with our plane of existence. Why are they testing & modifying humanity?!? We have no idea but the moon plays a central part within their campaign of interstellar evolution. These aliens see the Reticulan empire of 'These Stars Are Ours' rpg setting as rivals & competition. The alien races & gods of H.P. Lovecraft are other alien client races to the so called Outer Gods. But why is the moon always so key to these interactions?!
The answer may be the fact that there's a nasty secret right under humanity's nose on the moon. According to Mysterious Universe's article 'The Apollo Moon Missions: Aliens, UFOs, Anomalous Photos, and Cover-ups'. There's far more going on the moon then simply the monolith. Let's take it one step further for our campaign & say that there's a Lovecraftan gateway on the moon to one of the higher dimensional realms!
Why because its easier to transport a commodity like humanity if the delivery service is up & running quickly & efficiently. Robert E. Howard was very skeptical about alien powers to say the least. And this skeptism runs deep in his Sword & Sorcery literature. An since Sword & Sorcery is the red headed step child of Science Fiction it seems appropriate to include him in our Appendix 'S' for this campaign. Again we see this type of agenda within & others are indictive of the type of affair that we see in Orbital 2100 from Zozer Games.
"I am older than the world: Older than life. The race of man is a babe in the cradle of Time. I am Alpha and Omega.
The first and the last; The circle without end. I am a serpent with its tail in its mouth; I am a triangle whose tips overlap a circle.
I am the older sister of Destiny. Before man was, I was: And after man has vanished from the Universe, I will be. Time is a phantom, built by the mind of man; There is no Time. The thing that men call Time flies before my wind; Time has beginning, duration, ending. I am that which was, is and shall be; Unceasing, Neverending, Eternal. Number all the sands of all the shores of all the worlds Of all the Universes. And let each sand represent a million centuries; And they all shall not be a single instant Of Eternity.
For I am numberless and unnumbered, Eternity had no beginning nor shall there be ending. I am Alpha and Omega. That which was, is and shall be; Numberless and unnumbered." Eternity byRobert Ervin Howard
Let's pick it up for a Seventies Sci fi rompe with the influences here coming hot on the heels of our last blog entry here. This blog post pick up in another direction entirely namely plugging into the another tactic with another storm front of another set of unknown space craft. What the Hell are we talking about here?!?
Imagine if you will that the UFO's we see in our campaign are not the only craft kidnapping people for ages from Earth prior to the moon being wretched from orbit? One of the keys to this is Michael Brown's Omega 99 campaign setting. Omega 99 offers a moon with some interesting alien neighbors in the form of the Edari, the Kahgg, and the Mecharchs. These neighbors might be familiar to the inhabitants of Earth because the Earthlings have encountered them before! Last time I spoke about these aliens being servants of Greys or Reticulans. But imagine for a moment that Zozer Games Attack Squadron Roswell's discs. Are rival Reticulans or another race that is running scared about humanity. ‘Attack Squadron Roswell’ by Zozer Games is a pre-Cepheus Engine (it uses the MG1e / Traveller rules set) game. Now this rival group of Greys works for a different Lovecraftian entity.
These aliens see the Reticulan empire of 'These Stars Are Ours' rpg setting as rivals & competition. Competition because the clock is ticking. Humanity is becoming far more wise to the intrusions within our solar system. Reading through this review of 'UFOs - Ships of the Reticulan Empire' from the Alegis Downport Blog the seed is planted. Why?! Because the Reticulans have a fully formed empire. But their motivation for humanity is one dating back thousands of years.
Once the monolith on the moon is found ala 2001 a Space Odyessy all bets are off. The signal is sent & all other aliens powers are going to be aware of this. For humanity the motivation is FTL & the reaching for the stars. For the aliens its harvesting of a valuable reasouce in the form of mankind. A very malliable resource that they can shape into tools to help across the interstellar void. And both of these go back to my adopted uncle from the U.K.'s 2000AD prog, issues circa 1978 with the iconic Dan Dare series. In this scence Dan could have solved the FTL issue quite quickly with some of the artifacts in this scene.
If we take the point of view that there are rival factions of Greys serving higher dimensional Lovecraftian gods. And these are opposed to the 2001 style aliens where does that level humanity?! Could humanity be merely a commodity at this point. Imagine that by the time of the 1980 of U.F.O. humanity became aware of the Deep Ones or other underwater Lovcraftian races. Humanity would be desparate for some advantage perhaps submarine the technologies of SHADO Skydiver submarines had far more unnatural sources?!
Humanity occupied by its recent devestation of the Moon leaving orbit is now open to praying by dangerous forces above & below the waves. SHADO has to step in & take charge as the Martian colonies seize the opportunity to raid Earth. And SHADO moves into the position of global & interstellar military power in keeping with the Robert E. Howard ethos of action & violence begets order. Again this situation & others are indictive of the type of affair that we see in Orbital 2100 from Zozer Games.
Turning to light and fire the further west, Shall have the veils of twilight for his guest, And all the falling of an ashen sky.
On lands he shall not know, the splendor lies— A pharos on some alienated shore, In foam and purple lost forevermore, Where dreams are kindled in remoter eyes." Ashes of Sunset (1922) byClark Ashton Smith
So let's get back on this campaign & pick right up from where we last left off. What preceded the moon being wrenched out of orbit?! If we look deeply into the U.F.O. show's prehistory. Then there's indicators that the unnamed aliens were kidnapping people for ages. One of the keys to this is Michael Brown's Omega 99 campaign setting. Omega 99 offers a moon with some interesting alien neighbors in the form of the Edari, the Kahgg, and the Mecharchs. These neighbors might be familiar to the inhabitants of Earth because the Earthlings have encountered them before! If we look at other Jerry Anderson shows there's a clear indicator that various aliens have used other alien races as servants & slaves. But not for the reasons you might be thinking.
These aliens information would be classified & only available at the highest levels of the world's government. These aliens were questioned & hopefully returned to their people. Hopefully. But what happened to the aliens from U.F.O.?! If these were higher dimensional beings & opposed to the monolith aliens from 2001 A Space Odyssey where did they go?! Two possibilities spring to mind. They perished after the implementation of the IX Hawk program after their resources ran out. This could be implied from the Hawk space craft's engineering evolution from the SHADO's Interceptor models.
Could something much more insidious have happened?! The aliens in point of fact may have infiltrated Earth society & come into their own. They may have revealed themselves to the higher levels of the U.N.. In exchange for the secrets of FTL drives simply slipped into Earth's leaders & scientists hands. This accelerated the Monolith alien's time table for humanity. And so the Moon was wrenched from orbit. This is the test for humanity using the 'random' course of the Earth's moon. Earth however was already using these drive systems with the Ultra mission (see Space 1999 season 1 episode 8 Dragon's Domain). The Ultra mission & others are indictive of the type of affair that we see in Orbital 2100 from Zozer Games.
Communication with Mars & her colonies is lost for months after Earth's Moon is wrenched from orbit. The Mark IX Hawks that were kept there were turned to a much darker use against the Earth & her colonies. The Martian colonists starving, half out of their minds, & perhaps under the alien influence of the Mi Go attack the Earth, her colonies, etc. in a series of daring, dazzling, & unprovoked raids.
Thy light is as a spear, And thou penetratest them As a warrior that stabbeth his foe Even to the center of his life. Thy rays reach farther than the gulfs; They form a bridge thereover That shall endure till the links of the universe Are unfastened, and drop apart, And all the gulfs are one, Dissevered by suns no longer.
How strong art thou in thy place ! Thou stridest thine orbit, And the darkness shakes beneath thee, As a road that is trodden by an army. Thou art a god In thy temple that is hollowed with light In the night of infinitude, And whose floor is the lower void; Thy worlds are as priests and ministers therein. Thou furrowest space, Even as an husbandman, And sowest it with alien seed; It beareth alien fruits, And these are thy testimony, Even as the crops of his fields Are the testimony of an husbandman."
This blog entry picks up right where the last one left off. Space in a Seventies style retro science fiction alternative 1980's Earth contiuum is gonna be a very dangerous place. The extensional threats are going to stack up fast.
Apollo 16, 1972. Unofficial picture from the Fox William Mulder archives provide by Andrea Bonazzi
The Earth's moon has been wrenched from its orbit by higher dimensional powers. The Earth itself lies in ruins & every alien threat sees this as an opportunty to cash in on the wreckage that seems to be humanity. The corporations step in & order within a few short years say five or so is restored. But at what cost?! The public by this point across the globe is gun shy. One of the keys to this is Michael Brown's Omega 99 campaign setting. Omega 99 offers a moon with some interesting alien neighbors in the form of the Edari, the Kahgg, and the Mecharchs. These neighbors might be familiar to the inhabitants of Earth. But its the inhabitants of Zeta Reticulan that may be the envoys to 'help' the Earth. Coming out of the United States spacecraft Discovery One mission bound for Jupiter is the possible fact that the signal from the monolith may have alerted other aliens to the Earth. This is never touched upon in the film 2001 A Space Odyssey. But its implied in Arthur C. Clark's short story 'The Sentinel'.
If we continue on this route with the established history then Earth is on the galactic books of cosmic powers. The alien races out in the cosmos are not going to sit by likely. But does it matter?! One of the themes of U.F.O. is the fact that both the humans & alien higher dimensional powers are both screwed. Against an increasingly hostile universe. There was almost but not quite a team up. What happens if during the turmoil of the events of Space 1999's moon disappearance a Lovecraftian client race like the Mi Go come into focus on mankind's radar? If we take some of the Lovecraftian material from Paul Dyre's Shadow Fall. Then the Mi Go might be 'helping' from the shadows for decades until 1980. The reason is simple. The U.F.O. aliens are not only competition but possible allies. There are some deeply dangerous races & entities out in the universe. The Mi Go are nothing if not alienly pragmatic,. Zozer Games's 2100 is the perfect supplement to handle the Eagle program. This is after the disappearance of the U.F.O. aliens. Did they disappear or did they integrate into humanity?! Have these aliens carefully been relocated within Earth society after the Moon was wretched from orbit?! These alien races might actually be serving the alien higher dimensional powers behind the monolith. The U.F.O aliens test humanity's mettle, then ally with them, relocate to Earth, and then the Mi Go reveal themselves to reveal the 'secrets' of the Hyperspace drive. And then is the next glorious step in the every expanding chain of history's events. Where is all of this going?! There's more to this we can be sure of this even while H.P. Lovecraft assures us that we are insignificant against an uncaring universe. But its actually the Eagle Program that reveals part of the equation here.
The powers behind the monolith on Earth's moon had interactions with the alien races that mankind had encountered before. The Mi Go, the Elder Things, the U.F.O. alien essences, & even 'The Close Encounter of the Third Kind' beings. But those belong to a 'rogue power' if you will. But all bets are off once mankind get's Hostile's Hyperspace jump. This was a part of wrenching the moon from Earth's obit to test the mettle of humanity. Mankind is a valuable resource & one that 'These Stars Are Ours' setting knows about. But then again these alien life forms are also insignificant against the blackness of space & the Lovecraftian 'gods' . When it really comes into focus is in Hostile.
Note that the use of these videos are the subject to their copyright & trademark holders. This blog entry is for a personal rpg table top campaign & for educational purposes. This is not an attempt to violate the trade mark or copy rights of such holders. The above mentioned rpg authors are not responsible for the contents of this blog or its writer.
"These Great Old Ones...were not composed altogether of flesh and blood. They had shape...but that shape was not made of matter. When the stars were right, They could plunge from world to world through the sky.... When, after infinities of chaos, the first men came, the Great Old Ones spoke to the sensitive among them by molding their dreams; for only thus could Their language reach the fleshy minds of mammals.
When it comes to pulling off a Sevenies U.F.O.television series \style Chepheus Engine campaign. One of the keys to this is Michael Brown's Omega 99 campaign setting. Omega 99 offers a moon with some interesting alien neighbors in the form of the Edari, the Kahgg, and the Mecharchs. Some great ideas as well to get the polyester sci fi goodness underway.
What if the intent wasn't simply a cultclassic TV show but the idea that this was deadly serious busines along the lines of the 1972 film 'Silent Running. Earth's moon get's wrench out of the orbit by higher dimensional powers. The Earth is hit with wave after wave of ecological disasters. Earlier the humans sent the Discovery one on a publicity expediation after monolith was found on Earth's moon. What if this is the third or forth contact with alien life forms. So the events of '2001 A Space Odyssey' were part of a longer chain of events in human history.
The United States spacecraft Discovery One is bound for Jupiter.. This is as much a publicity stunt as it is an expediationary mission to Jupiter. The alien signal came from the moon's monolith. For the most part humanity doesn't have a clue as to what changes have been wrought to those who were subject to its influence?! The moon itself maybe ten or so years later is wrench from its orbit ala Space 1999. But if we assume that this is correct. Using the joint U.F.O. followed by '2001 A Space Odysssey' history , & then Space 1999. The wrap around of Silent Running comes hot on its heels. Then we've got a very Lovecraftian theme going on here indeed. So let's continue backwards to the Seventies for a moment or so. Let's say that in 1977 that humanity actually had contact with aliens in ' Close Encounters of the Third Kind'. We have some idea who & what those aliens were. We may have no idea whom or what those aliens served. The fact of the matter is that poor souls who left with the 1977 film's aliens are gone down a Lovecraftian rabbit hole. This is a view point that is even shared by other movie reviewers including the excellent 'The Scary Review Blog; "And we have to ask, what exactly do these aliens really want? If they’ve been abducting people for generations, what do they want with the one man crazy enough to have made it to Devils Tower? If they’ve been taking people all willy-nilly since before WWII, or even longer, well…it goes to say they probably already have a clear understanding of human anatomy. And if they can insert images and thoughts into our minds, well… this begs the question, how much more of us do they really need to know? To me, it all seems like a subjective test. A greater intelligence than our own giving humanity the equivalent of a SAT exam"
Apollo 16, 1972. Unofficial picture from the Fox William Mulder archives provide by Andrea Bonazzi
In Deuce of Clubs website's other fantastic little article titled 'Spacecraft or Lovecraft' he goes into the following; "An intriguing hypothesis has been suggested by Jacques Vallee, the real-life model for the character of the French scientist in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and author of many books on the UFO phenomenon, such as Dimensions and Messengers of Deception. Vallee does not share Steven Spielberg's trusting view of the visitors, whom he believes are probably not visitors at all. Vallee has made a history-spanning study of stories of supernatural contact—Greco-Roman tales of sky chariots, Celtic stories of elves and fairies abducting children and mutilating animals, Joseph Smith's alleged heavenly visions, and apparitions of the Virgin Mary—and found that such experiences closely parallel the experiences of UFO contactees. It seems that the phenomenon currently known as the contactee experience is almost coeval with human culture. "UFOs have been seen throughout history and have consistently received (or provided) their own explanation within the framework of each culture," Vallee says. Stories of these visitors conform to the prevailing mythology or beliefs; the visitors become whatever we want them to be and tell us whatever we want to hear. Modern mythology having shifted from the magical to the scientific, it's only logical that popular culture now attributes such phenomena to scientifically advanced beings from space." Could the events of 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind' have jump started the world of U.F.O.?! If these aliens were abducting humans since the beginning of time. And just before they go on their cosmic joy ride with the sciencetific expermental anim ermm contactees. They warn the international monkey governments about these other 'bad' aliens coming to harvest blood, organs, bodies, etc.
Now at the events at Devil's Tower Col. Edward Straker, is a lowly witness to lightshow & what not of 'Close Encounters'. He has time to think about these events. And becomes a part of an international task force that mobilizes to move humanity's technologies ahead. He moves a head with the investments
of Harlington-Straker Film Studios. But deep down he knows of the cosmic danger that these alien forces represent. Now this moves the space programs of this alternative Earth ahead at warp speed. The space borne coolness of Orbital 2100 is in full effect. Humanity has the beginnings of FTL drives but they won't be ready for another 10 or so years. Then the other U.F.O.'s begin showing up. The UFO cults begin to flourish as well. Nasty little cells of proto occult terrorist cells serving powers beyond the ken of mankind show up. And terrorist actions such as mass bombings, etc. start to happen. Could all of this actually tie back into Professor Quatarmass & the The Quatermass Conclusion?!
If we move forward with the idea that these events propel Earth's technologies forward. And could help explain the hard line governmental stance of anything alien. If you think about it who can blame humanity at that point?! These alien forces have been showing up & taking humans for their own agendas. And this something that we can use Attack Squadron Rosewell for. A wide variety of alien craft & weirdness for the players to contend with.
From here the big factor is the Earth's Moon & establishing a base there in 1980. The key here is the moon's military importance. Humanity by 1980 is wiped & wary, so existence of this moon base would be kept utterly secret. Again here its Orbital 2100 that is key to creating such an adventure location.
Humanity by the time its reached the Reticulian Empire of 'These Stars Are Ours' has utterly had it with alien influences. So that explains a bit of the flexing of the military might on humanity's part. The Fall of Mankind back down into Sol isn't hard to see. Hostile in my campaigns is Sevenities Sci fi humanity reaching for the stars again.
Note that the use of these videos are the subject to their copyright & trademark holders. This blog entry is for a personal rpg table top campaign & for educational purposes. This is not an attempt to violate the trade mark or copy rights of such holders. The above mentioned rpg authors are not responsible for the contents of this blog or its writer.
Does Earth's moon hold far more secrets then humanity understood?! Even as it was blasted from Earth's solar system in 1999?!
Apollo 16, 1972. Unofficial picture from the Fox William Mulder archives provide by Andrea Bonazzi
Two days ago Paul Elliot of Zozer games came out with a really cool little comment in the Cepheus Engine Face book group; " You could combine Orbital 2100 with Hostile, swapping the Alien-style ships in Hostile for the 2100 centrifuge ships, just add a hyperdrive from Hostile.... Both are Cepheus Engine Zozer Games " Now this got me thinking about Hostile which according to Paul ;"In a way my later setting HOSTILE is the Orbital setting, 125 years later ... but with the caveat of hyperspace and anti-gravity."
So does this mean that in the one hundred & twenty five years every small mom & pop adventurer start up is going to be able to afford the high end space craft of Hostile?! Hell no. They'll be relying on the hyperdrives to get them into the wild black of interstellar outer space. And this is where Orbital 2100 comes into play.
This is one of the points of this is that mom & pop surveyors & prospectors are going to be using much of the equipment still found in Orbital 2100. Why not simply use Explorers & call it a day?! Space & especially interstellar space is mind bogglingly huge. This means that in some regions of space 125 year old technology is still the norm. Explorers is the upper end of the field for my Hostile/Cepheus Engine rpg campaign. But there's another reason all together and that's the Gerry Anderson factor. Orbital 2100 also offers the DM the ability to run a U.F.O. Seventies TV style add on to the campaign. But how could you pull this off?! Easily with Michael Brown's Omega 99 campaign setting. Omega 99 offers a moon with some interesting alien neighbors in the form of the Edari, the Kahgg, and the Mecharchs. Some great ideas as well to get the polyester sci fi goodness underway.
Since my wife & I were kids we've loved Gerry Anderson's Seventies television show U.F.O. but man this show could use an overhaul & it got one as the first season of Space 1999. But U.F.O. is still a favorite among fans.
But what does this have to do with Hostile & Orbital 2100?! Everything as we see in the Space 1999 first season episode 'Wargames' which introduced the iconic Hawk IX to the space craft line up. The Hawk would later appear in Starlog magazine issue 32 March 1980. Which had the Hawk as an unofficial space craft link up between Moonbase Alpha beginnings & the Hawk space craft defense program as a defense against the aliens of U.F.O. You can go to the Space 1999 catacombs here to read all about from the pages of Starlog.
MPC's Hawk mark IX model that was available in Walmart.
Not only can the Hawk program be done in Orbital 2100 but by using Attack Squadron Rosewell you & your players get the full on effect of sky borne action in an alternative Earth 1980. Orbital 2100 is the perfect space craft bed to design the Hawk program from.
Why not just use 'The Stars Are Ours' as the campaign basis?! Well what if I total you that these aliens were just as much to a menace to the the Reticulan Empire as to the humans. And the reason is the humans. Human bodies & organs are being harvested by the aliens. The Reticulan's humans in TSAO are simply another bell bottom obstacle to be removed to the aliens of this campaign. The aliens of U.F.O. are particularly Lovecraftian in a sense. The aliens are actually a combination of the abductees who have been modified to hold the alien's life essence with organ transplants. And originals who are trying to survive against a really nasty ecological disaster on their home planet. Details on these aliens & their craft as follows..
Note that the use of these videos are the subject to their copyright & trademark holders. This blog entry is for a personal rpg table top campaign & for educational purposes. This is not an attempt to violate the trade mark or copy rights of such holders. The above mentioned rpg authors are not responsible for the contents of this blog or its writer.
A big problem with the OSR is the noise factor, the 'buzz' for new products & books has become a bit of a scree in the ether. Take for example the fact that putting a Gerry Anderson inspired Pulp campaign has been very challenging. Taking a look back at Mentzer Dungeons & Dragons has been a bit of an eye opening experience. You can read part II here.
Lately a player of mine has been asking me if the campaign will have 'real' warefare rules, about 'space ship' construction, & so forth. It got me thinking about using more resources from Adventurer,Conqueror,King rpg. This brings me to the cross over between Mentzer & Labyrinth Lord or more specifically the Goblinoid Games rpg Apes Victorious rpg. There's a tremendous nostalgia between late Sixties & early Seventies Sci fi that driven by the 'Planet of the Apes' films.
There has to be a meet point between the star spanning alternative Earth of U.F.O. & the Lovecraftian rest of this campaign. The problem with cosmicism ; "the literaryphilosophydeveloped and used by the American writerH. P. Lovecraftin hisweird fiction.[1][2]Lovecraft was a writer of philosophically intensehorror storiesthat involveoccultphenomena likeastral possessionand alienmiscegenation, and the themes of his fiction over time contributed to the development of this philosophy.[3]
The philosophy of cosmicism states "that there is no recognizable divine presence, such as a god, in the universe, and that humans are particularly insignificant in the larger scheme of intergalactic existence."[4] The most prominent theme is humanity's fear of their insignificance in the face of an incomprehensibly large universe:[5][6][7] a fear of the cosmic void" That void in ACK's world is the 'realms of chaos '
Is that getting players to open up & say,'ahh' for it is the incredibly difficult aspect of mixing gritty heroics & Lovecraftian bleakness. PC's should struggle to be heroic even in the fact of cosmic indifference. We get all kinds of Adventurer,Conqueror,King style Conan/A Princess of Mars goodness this is whereACK's 'The Barbarian Conquerors of Kanahu' is playing a healthy part within this campaign.
But what about 'the greater implied' universe of this campaign?! Hmm if only there was a Pulpy science fantasy alternative that could work with all of this & still retain the flavor of the whole affair?!
The answer has been sitting on my hard drive since 2015, Between Star & Void From DYS Games is for The White Star rpg system now in the White Star Galaxy edition and its completely backwards compatible with all previously-written third-party White Star content.
But,but, its not Pulpy enough were the cries heard the other night. Fortunately Charles Thorin did me a solid by producing a whole bunch of Pulp inspired classes & whatnot through his Magic Pig Media imprint . So we've got Space Amazons coming up!
This contrasts really solidly with the darkness of a Carcosa/Cha'alt setting especially given the changes that we've seen in Venger Satanis's Cha'alt: Fuchsia Malaise. Eighteen months have passed & the black pryamid is on the move with the political forces of Cha'alt exploiting the demon worms & the alien natives.
The do gooders of such a campaign are in for more then a passing 'bitch slapping' by the forces of Cha'alt including the Great Old Ones. But I've got more thoughts on that coming up.
So things have been moving forward in my Victorious rpg/Castles & Crusades hybrid campaign. The PC's however have fallen in with a very nasty NPC occultist. This occultist has been poking around the manor grounds after the PC's had to deal with a plague of ghosts. The ghost plague came to almost wreck the alternative 1870's New York. Every hero & villain was called into service. The aftermath of this was the player's PC's hooking up with a rather loony occultist NPC.
While dealing with the plague the PC's found was controlled by a chaos Elven planar gate straight out of Dark Albion's Cults of Chaos. The occultist Johnas Clunter found the crystal skull that was controlling the gate but also found the necromancer & his cult. The PC's saved NPC's from the sacrificial knife of the necromancer! The crystal skull was recovered and all was saved right?! Not really the PC's, there have been incursions of coloured men & dangerous technologies from Cha'alt/Carcosa over the last couple of months. The party's bard has literally been kicking in heads & taking names. Now things really start heating up after the party begins to listen to the loony occultist. They go back to the chaos Elven planar gate to see if they can get answers to the incursions from beyond! Things go sideways really quick when the gate activates & they get sucked into it! They find themselves on a multicoloured woodland landscape! Remember eighteen months has pasted since events on Cha'alt! Events from Cha'alt: Fuchsia Malaise are in full swing!
What the PC's find themselves in is a full scale war zone! There are strange tank like vehicles engaged in all out warfare with several tribes of coloured people armed with energy weapons. The mobiles are AC 4, HP 40, MPH of 50, 2-3 crew & armed with both machine guns 2d6 damage per burst, & armor piercing rockets capable of doing 1d8 damage with a range of 3 miles, there are sixteen such rockets aboard each mobile. There's also a command & radar mobile with a crew 6. All have cargo room for 4 troops 2nd level fighters armed with machine guns & side arms.
Sha'do was trying to recover some artifact & apparently there were Prussian troops & special agents among the tribesmen. The special Prussian agent 'Berst' died while trying to destroy one of the mobiles. And it was actually the PC's who took the artifact some sort of coffin. The loony occultist was kidnapped by the tribesman. More on him later. The party's own occultist has been playing the NPC for all he's worth so he can activate the crystal skull. The coffin holds some sort of living being and the gadgeteer determines that everything looks good. Sha'ado ordered the PC's to give up the coffin. But they get a cool peace sign instead! And the PC's gate out! So what's in the coffin?! Or whom?! Well I can't tell you that but the occupant came straight outta of the free Acid Punk Edition of Planet Psychon supplement.
So now back in 1870's New York the PC's realize that their missing their loony occultist NPC. They don't realize that an old enemy of theirs is right now cybernetically enhancing our occultist & learning all of his secrets! The Reaper A.I. is one that has crossed paths with our heroes before! The party lost two members to its legions before! Could Reaper be planning something horrid for our heroes!? Already our party's paladin is wondering?!
The party has already crossed paths with several cybernetically enhanced Reaper agents when they visited Greyhawk. The plane hopping haunted house of Tegel manor assured that Greyhawk was a major stop!
In case you haven't figured out Reaper is my Brainiac only much more dangerous and caused the party a major headache awhile back. It double crossed the Rumps awhile back & killed off one PC about a month ago. Reaper has been a major NPC & should it align with the Prussians then events within this alternative 'Franco-PrussianWar' could turn very deadly. Back in New York this is gonna take months (weeks of game play) to work out. The players want to add in a number of C&C PC's and what not.
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