Manufactured Mutants - Adding in The 2d6 Details into Hostile's Colony Earth Using Other 2d6 Resources

 Mutation in Cepheus Engine & Hostile has been on my mind lately because of rereading Dragon magazine issue 109 May 1986 which contains in the Ares section  'The Double Helix Connection  Mutants In Traveller Gaming  " By Michael Brown. We've got artificial mutant breeds that have been produced on Earth to help with the ecological collapse. These are self sustaining breeds of mankind. And yes, we're revisiting these themes from here on the blog.

Earth's mega corporations are primed to create artificial mutant strains, copyright & trademark such breeds, and then bring these breeds to term. These are completely different then the proles that are produced for extra solar colonies. 
These strains are produced to work in, clean up, and live in the Hellish conditions of post ecological collapse America and Europe. They are mutations designed to withstand the harshest enviroments that Earth has to offer. 
Why? Why would megacorporations produce such entities?! Simple really and that is that they get to over the long term see the experimentation of such mutants live in thier own laboratories of toxic enviroments. 
Imagine if you will that over the long haul these breeds of mutated mankind allow the mega corporations to set up long haul colonies. These colonies allow the mega corporations to literally own thier own workers right down to the skin on thier backs. Dragon magazine issue 109 May 1986 which contains in the Ares section  'The Double Helix Connection  Mutants In Traveller Gaming  " By Michael Brown has the perfect collection of guidelines and rules for introducing such mutated humanity to Hostile's Earth. 

Copyrighted mutated humanity could be excellent for long term colony worlds for the megacorporations. The ground work for this is being laided on by the megacorporations. These allow the corporations to claim whole worlds. And given the propensity for the worlds of Hostile to be incredibly varied. 
Designing mutations and colony compatibility is a science unto itself. But the crapshoot comes with the genetic defects that come with tempering with genes. 

Some of these genes could be crippling to the mutant strain. However because we're talking about generational mutaions. When we're dealing with generational gene mutation designed to deal with other worldly conditions. Then we're talking about long term designs that can play across generations. And dealing with high speed computer mathmatical models of these species of humanity. What about animal kind?! Afterday has a great 2d6 blend into itself to help to blow out some of Hostile Earth's colonial details. 

Why because of the fact that Afterday represents the colonies that were first put into space during the events of the early part of the Second Recession. 
And this goes right along with Hostile's timeline. Reading through it reveals levels of danger and reckless corporate ventures of exploration. Afterday represents those ventures in spades as failed colonies and even Earthside ecological collapse. 
The events surrounding such collapse extend to technology and even artifacts. Artifacts that link to a higher level of technology that is invaluable to the corporations. 

Adding in The 2d6 Details into Hostile's Colony Earth Using Other 2d6 Resources

 When it comes to Cepheus Engine and we're going Earth side it's important to remember if and when you as a DM have established a previous adventure hook. And in this case it's the fact that Earth has within our games a precident for Mutant stains of artifically created humans. This goes back to June of this past year when the PC's visited several failed colonies established back in the Second Recession. For this we used Gamma World 2nd edition and several Michael Brown's Cepheus Engine. As well as classic Traveller Supplements  because Hostile Earth isn't a friendly place. 
Now let's go back to Dragon magazine issue 109 May 1986 which contains in the Ares section  'The Double Helix Connection  Mutants In Traveller Gaming  " By Michael Brown. We've got artificial mutant breeds that have been produced on Earth to help with the ecological collapse. These are self sustaining breeds of mankind. 

The secomd part of this is Michael Brown's Afterday which has the tools that we'll need for some of the abandoned cities of Earth. This includes random encounters, adventure hooks, and more. 
Afterday has some really useful tools within it's kit to really bring out the details of mutated Earth and it's totally nasty environs. 
These cities and thier locations especially around areas with malfunctioning Hyperspacial drives are going to completely alien and imicial to human life. The possible creatures in those ares could well be horrors that mankind hasn't encountered before. The fact is that Colony Earth offers both Cyberpunk and post apoclapytic play in one package. 

Afterday has a great 2d6 blend into itself to help to blow out some of Hostile Earth's details. 

 In stark contrast is the glitz and glamour of most of the major corporate run cities and thier own shadow cities. And here's where New World: 2d6 Adventures in a Cyberpunk America come into play. Now I've heard some folks complain that the timeline in New World is too 'woke' and that's easy enough to change. The rules and corporations are excellent for adding yet another layer to your game campaign especially on Earth. 

New World is especially useful for adding another layer to a DM using Zaibatsu rpg as a sub set of rules to expand thier Earth game campaign. The equipment, rules, options etc. all help and it also fits very nicely into the Clement Sector as well. 

Corporate Wars, Hit Squads, and Corporate Cover Ups - Kosmo 68 & Hostile Rpg Crossover Game Campaign Commentary- Session Report Six

 Tonight's game picked right up from here on the blog.Back on Earth our group of street samurai go into full assault and started quietly doing corporate assassinations. They began to get justice against the underbosses who had orderred thier asssasinations. 

The party in tonight's game recovered many of thier files. The Tanaka corporation's data centers were raided by our 'heroes' & they took out the servers. 
Several lightning raids were made on the various safehouses throughout downtown Toyko. And at least two of our PC's were taken out by return gunfire. No matter the players had two other operatives waiting in the wings. 
And then the hammer came down as a corporate  Chinese hit squad came in. There was some serious fire power brought to bare as a mini cannon carved up one of the party's safe houses. 
What's at stake?! The plans for a brand new energy weapon that could unlock lost technologies from before the 1st Recession. And the rumors are that the party is now on the radar of at least four major corporations. And the Soviet technologies & failed colony locations are at the heart of it. This all gets traced back to Allard Electronics funneling food back to these 'failed colonies' being fostered by the Soviets. Allard Electronics is stepping into the big boys pond. Why?! Because of the facts about Xoldin & other failed colonies should remain buried by the mega corporations.

On the data that the party has intercepted is information about Steele Defiance and it's efforts. Information that the Soviet high command & it's corporate allies wants to remain hidden. 
The player's PC's have already been reported dead by the corporate media outlets and that serious charges were pending against them according to these same outlets. 
Can the players PC's hope to survive into the next several weeks?! Next time the Zhuri and the Allard Electronics sponsored explorers! 

The players PC 's have made contact with Kusma (Kusya) Konstantika Zorin: Leader of Steel Defiance

Hi Tech Ninja & Assassination Raids - Kosmo 68 & Hostile Rpg Crossover Game Campaign Commentary- Session Report Two

 Let's pick up where we left off here. So we've been toying with the idea that back on Earth is the fact that the data from ten years ago is finally reaching Earth from our other Hostile party of 'adventurers'. The data from Allard Electronics  is causing all kinds of issues for our gang of criminals. Kaizu our blind street samuari masseuse/hitman did a number on the Takama gang in a daring daylight one man raid. The dice were with him today. He managed to recover some of the terraforming technology data that the Soviets had shared with Allard. A rival corporation having this data could be catastrophic to Allard & it's partners. 

Meanwhile the rest of the gang got hit by hi technological ninja. And they just barely managed to survive by escaping thier safehouse. And then they managed to survive by blowing it up to cover thier trail frying all of the ninja inside. 

They gang made contact with thier bratva contact & made in roads to switch to thier new safehouse. Here the PC re equipped for that night's raid

 The terraforming technology comes straight from
the https://kosmos68com.wordpress.com/ here. 

The street war went on as our 'heroes' went on a full blown hit raid against the tanaka corporation who had ordered the hit.Thier hacker shut down power for one block and then the team went to work! We lost two of our warriors on the raid as they got taken down by tasers & shot gun blasts. The rest of the teams fared much better and burnt the corpes of thier comrades so they couldn't be traced back to Allard Electronics. 

Nexttime we pick up out in the Soviet sector with Michael Brown's Afterday filling in for our failed colony that we'll be visting in the Hostile leg of the game coming. up. 

Hit Squads & Failed Colonies, - Kosmo 68 & Hostile Rpg Crossover Game Campaign Commentary

 This blog entry is going to tie in with this blog entry here.  The streets of Japan are awash with blood as new corporate data has been illegally been 'liberated' from the Soviets. And thier not happy at all. Can your street warriors smuggle it too the right corporate parties?! 

 

What if the hotest commotidy back on Earth of Hostile is the fact that the Soviets are battling for thier colonies continued existence. What if the Soviets classifed information on the Zhuk lifeforms hit the street. The corporations would be climbing over themselves trying to get that information & thier street hustler & criminal parties would be climbing over themselves to get that information. And this was the basis for a meeting tonight to discuss with my fellow DM's a newer Zaibatsu Rpg mini campaign. 

The idea is that Allard Electronics transmissions have been intercepted by certain mega corporate information brokering houses.The street hustlers got a hold of this info. And now Soviet street samurai & assassins are looking to kill the information quite literally. 

The kosmos68com.wordpress.com/ goes deeply into the state security & spies in this section. 

Is this situation actually far more explosive then the corportations far more explosive then thier letting on?! 

Could the entire Outworld sector be in actual danger as the interviews with General Turov recently  within Soldiers & Sins magazine proports. 

As street warriors are dropping like flies. The streets of Toyko are awash with blood. And this ties in with the Soviets providing the American corporations intel on the menace coming thier way. The real issue is the fact that that the A.I. horrors that the corporations have been afraid of for decades has been encountered by the Soviets. The American corporate entities are afraid of the PR nightmare that could happen if the failed colonial history & abandonament. These failed colony worlds have been modeled   Michael Brown's Afterday & Stellagama Publishing's Cepheus Atom.

This plays into the latter issues that we see Earth sector & Clement sector campaigns. 

The Rise of A.I., & Failed Colonies, - Kosmo 68 & Hostile Rpg Crossover Game Campaign Commentary

 Bare with me here because we pick up from here on the blog. Over the last couple of days there's been something that's been bugging me and that's the Soviet robots with Kosmos '68. Over on the https://kosmos68com.wordpress.com/ site there's a great article about robots & cybernetic lifeforms in the USSP here.  My question becomes why would the USSP be using clunky advanced robots when the US corporations are running slick android bordering on full blown cybernetic human beings or life forms?! And yes, I know its a conceit of the Soviety style of design & Science Fiction genre's focus esspecially of the Kosmos '68 cold war setting. And it got me thinking about the rise of A.I.. And  how it's possible that in the one hundred & twenty five years between Orbit 2100 & Hostile something rather nasty happened. 

Maybe it's no accident that the Soviets don't use Androids and thier ilk. And perhaps the Soviets are so gun shy about A.I. that it drove them to start investigating alternatives such as psionics. And the fact is that the Americans & the rest of the world have sorta learned. And the answer to this comes from Japan within the Hostile Setting book;"With controlled immigration from within the Asia-Pacifi c region, and renewed focus on automation, robotics and artifi cial intelligence technologies to increase productivity, Japan was looking boldly into the future. As China entered its time of crisis and First Recession began to bite, Japan was able to show leadership in the region and formed the Asia Pacifi c Partnership in an attempt to weather the storm. China had lost its lead in the region – Japan once again dominated the Far Eastern area." Between this time & the Second Recession A.I. flourished but it was short lived because of the Oil Crisis of the Second Recession; "Oil was desperately needed, not for fuel, since most vehicles ran from hydrogen fuel cells and power-stations were fusion-based and required helium-3. Petroleum was needed by the plastics and the chemicals industries. Bioplastic was in use, but its reliance on vegetable matter grown in fi elds that could otherwise be used to feed starving millions, meant that oil, tried and tested over centuries and understood by all chemical engineers and plant designers, remained the primary choice. Now oil reserves on distant moons and on harsh planets would have to provide a source for that oil. The Oil Crisis of 2200 initiated a Second Recession lasting for 15 years. Some colonies and outposts were temporarily abandoned due to cost-saving exercises." All of this history can be found on page 15-16 of the Hostile Setting book. This peroid is when A.I.'s life forms and minions step in. And for a bit it looked grim but then the rise of A.I. was cut short by the lack of raw materials. Colonies were literally abandoned on certain back water worlds. And this got me thinking about Hostile's shift from the cybernetic into the bio technological. These 'abandoned' colonies had me thinking about Michael Brown's Afterday & Stellagama Publishing's Cepheus Atom.

And yes, Stellagama Publishing's Cepheus Atom is based on Cepheus Quantum rpg system. It's really not that hard too cross them over. That being said it would stand to reason that the Soviets  & the Americans would be very gun shy of anything smacking too much of the fully sentient A.I. intelligence. 
Once the A.I. genie was out of the bottle the rapid rise in colony disasters only came to a halt with the Earth & her colonies being abandoned. There might still be colonies out there where exotic A.I. indused cybernetic life forms are the rule not the exception. 

And this goes back into something that our group discussed tonight. Have all of this history simply be swept under the rug by Earth's corporations & the USSP?! In a short answer yes. Long answer is that there may be still functional colonies still struggling out in the void. 

And there may be cybernetic lifeforms that have adapted & become another menace in the darkness to plague PC's. Now that  Transdyne Cybersystems and Haruna Biolabs have cornered the market within Synthetics. Events are moving to expose some of the hidden blunders made during the days of the Second Recession. And with that exposure comes the increasing horrors that lurk in the darkness.

On the Soviet side the  Special Purpose Fleet (SPF) & the MiningRegulatory Agency Base organization on the American corporate side are responsible for the exploration of the sectors. The leadership of these organizations know that the cybernetic life forms are still out in the Black. What they don't know is where they are. 

This is where Stellagama Publishing's Cepheus Atom comes in very handy. There's already a number of warbots & other cybernetic lifeforms that can give even the hardest marines pause. The Rise of A.I. events leads up to the real cybernetic horrors  & that's next generation synethics that are living out in the void. We encountered these horrors within our own Tanhauser gate mini campaign. We would later on encounter these horrors within the Earth sector & Clement sector campaigns. 

Return To Abyss - Anchors Away & A Shot Gun To The Torso! - Session Report Two

 For the last twenty four hours I've been quitly trying to wrap my mind around the particulars of Zozer Games Abyss for the Hostile rpg. The Blackguard has been deeply involved in sabatoge on Abyss in several areas around claims to spark a gang war between two minor clans. 

Own our little band of Hostile marry makers has been employed by the head of a crime syndicate to sew discord among these two clans to come in claim jump. 
That being said we're working both sides of the aisles. After our party almost got taken out by a drone bomb in one of Abyss's major city hubs. 

The drone killed a hundred people but because of a missed roll it was the wrong skyscraper. Next time the party will be toast & not even a missed roll will save em. 
To really bring home the Cyberpunk like atmosphere of the cities of Abyss I used Fishwife games 

Cyber City Block 001 for the encounter. For the gang itself we dipped into Michael Brown's New World: 2D6 Adventure in a Cyberpunk America for the outside talent. Think of the gunslingers who are brought in to takeout the marshal in the Eighties film Outland. Shotguns & auto fire in their neighborhood brought out the corporate cops. It was too late! 

 The PC's survived the encounter but one of them Zoey Crugger their jacker ended up in the hospital & had to receive cybernetic add ons. So she's going to be out for the next two sessions! 
And the rest of the party swore revenge! Excellent! 
They calculated that the 'Outside Talent' Gang were using a sub anchored off shore as a base. The Blackguard called in two favors with their own corporate masters & had them bring in a sub of their own! We ended here & we're picking it up next week. 

Pulp Matters - Cepheus Journal – Issue #008 & A Cepheus Engine Flash Gordon Pulp Style Campaign

 So last night I took night off from the regular blogging together with friends & fellow DM's. We began speaking about a 1950's style mini Cepheus Engine campaign for the after the Halloween holiday. And here's where we get into low cost solutions for such a 2d6 campaign with Cepheus Journal – Issue #008. P-O Bergstedt's Space Patrol article is perfect as an addition to a Pulp Cepheus Engine campaign. 

Where would a Space Patrol game be perfectly balanced in an alternative 1940's, 1950's or 1960's campaign?! Why where the holes of the Space Police not be able to fill all of those holes in interstellar politics?! Not at all. The opportunities would be for adventurers to slip in & take up some of the slack. And here's where Michael Brown's Thrill of the Thirties! 2D6 Adventure in the Pulp Era could help to take up some of the PC & NPC generation burden. 

The otherday there was a thread about running a Flash Gordon style original Traveller game & what supplements could be used to run it. With the Cepheus Engine nothing could be easier actually. A few minor modifications to the Clement or Earth Sector books by Independence Games. And you've got your Pulp  Space Western Frontier. 

Why would a  Mongo style planet  be so very disjointed in it's technological levels?! Well that's easy, Mongo or an appropriate Pulpy planet was artificially maintained as an elite, exclusive, and very real interstellar hunting planet. All of the signs & symbols are there. The colonists rebelled and took over. They got a taste for conquest and took over their system & surrounding systems under a Ming The Merciless. This went on for sometime even taking a Sword of Cepheus style magical or occult planet. The people of our 'Mongo style world took on these trappings ala the Late Roman Empire. Later on their ambitions knew no bounds. And they captured a much higher tech level axiom planet & it's inhabitants who were not used to the level of violence. They forced the aliens to construct a planetary drive system. The planet & its sourrounding moons became a wanderer accross the cosmos. 

And this brings us back to Cepheus Journal – Issue #008 where the cool intelligences of the Martians are gearing up their warmachine. The problem & reason is that 'Mongo our wandering star of destruction has raided Martian colonies. And this has thrown the Martians into a bit of a tail spin and they've begun raiding Earth sector colonies. The greater threat though is the 'Mongo style world'. The current rulers maintain the artificial eco system out a sense of tradition. The various uplifted animal races are at each other's throats. And Stellagemma Publishing's Games Space Patrol could give the Space Patrol outposts much needed relief. 

If your looking for a Flassshh Gordon style PC then perhaps that's going to be your characters or party. This style of campaign opens all kinds of opportunities for a rag tag party of adventurers. Perhaps a renagade commander from the Space Force by Paul Drye from Cepheus Journal – Issue #008  whose had it with the red tape & paperwork. The thing to remember about Mongo & planets like it are that they are artificially maintained & it says so by Dr. Zarcoff in the original Filmation cartoon. 

OSR Review & Commentary Under Western Skies: 2D6 Adventure on America's Frontier From Michael Brown For Your Old School Western Campaigns

 "The term “Wild West” conjures up images of square-jawed cowboys on horseback, watching over a cattle drive; steely-eyed lawmen facing down desperadoes; painted saloon girls carousing with rowdy guests; and stoic Native Americans watching their world slip away. The Wild West — that period of America’s history during its westward expansion in the latter half of the nineteenth century — was all that, and much more. Now, players using the 2D6 system can visit those thrilling (and often dangerous) days of yesteryear. Under Western Skies is an RPG supplement based on the Mongoose 1st Edition 2D6 OGL system (which is itself based on The Original Science-Fiction Roleplaying Game first published in the 1970s) and adapted to create heroes and adventures suitable for an Old West campaign." 

"This is a major upgrade of the original Under Western Skies rules, but is still designed to “get out of the way and let you play.” The rules still leave most of the creativity to the Referee offering only a framework to hang that creativity on. The rules contain the following goodies, some of them new:

• An expanded list of ten careers, using a familiar character generation system
• Native American nation creation
• equipment and weapon tables
• a selection of vehicles and animals, both wild and domestic
• an expanded town creation system that allows the Referee to decide the level of detail.
• A discussion of Newfangled Contraptions invented in the 19th century that had an impact on the 20th.
• And even a generation system for the cowboy’s boon companion, the horse!

Of course, there are rules to help you run the inevitable showdown at high noon, and determine what happens when you just as inevitably get sick or see that twister coming."

Under Western Skies: 2D6 Adventure on America's Frontier From Michael Brown  came my way last night from the author. Who dropped in my lap on social media, the fact that I not only own Under Western Skies: 2D6 Adventure on America's Frontier is a testiment to the prolific author. Michael Brown is one of those Cepheus Engine authors who is a quiet machine producing excellent games while staying under the radar to produce excellent games. 
And in seventy pages Mr.Brown writes up an excellent no nonsense set of flavorful 2d6 Old Western rules. And Under Western Skies: 2D6 Adventure on America's Frontier delivers the goods by bringing home the 2d6 action. Under Western Skies does three things very quickly, one it explains it's mechanics right up front, second it gives the players &  DM these mechanics upfront for PC generation, and three plugs into both the historical & cinematic aspects of the Old West. Within this context Michael Brown adhers to the Cepheus Engine rpg systems ideals giving the player everything within the first fifteen pages they'll need to generate a PC, embody themselves within the Old West, & start playing. And players can play everything from cowpunchers to soldiers all within Under Western Skies quickly, efficiently, and miminumal fuss. And this minimal of fuss is something Michael Brown excels at in his design & authorship. 
Under Western Skies: 2D6 Adventure on America's Frontier takes this and runs with it within itself. Under Western Skies: 2D6 Adventure on America's Frontier is designed to be played & everything from the 'guts' mechanic to the combat system is designed for easy of play. The equipment, gun, weapons, and even the horse rules are designed to be pick up and go! 
The modular nature of Under Western Skies: 2D6 Adventure on America's Frontier is speed, & playability. Everything here has been stripped back & narrowed by Mr.Brown for actual playability at the table top level. And we see this time & again thumbing through the game. Under Western Skies: 2D6 Adventure on America's Frontier is specifically designed to be played with one shot or overarching actual Old Western campaign play. Another difference that we've  got with Under Western Skies is the fact that that there are multiple adventures like   Kennon's Pass which gives you everything you need to get the player's PC's into the Old West action. 

How does Under Western Skies: 2D6 Adventure on America's Frontier compare with say other Cepheus Engine Western Rpg's?! Well it doesn't actually. What Under Western Skies: 2D6 Adventure on America's Frontier is actually a slick, quick, and reliable set of rules with some really good potential for Old West 2d6 rpg action! 

Under Western Skies: 2D6 Adventure on America's Frontier From Michael Brown For Your Old School Western Campaigns Is Available Here 

2d6 Pulp Action With Michael Brown's 'Thrill of the Thirties! 2D6 Adventure in the Pulp Era' & Cepheus Engine Journal Issue #8

 Today was one of those American holidays that flashes by in a heart beat. We were supposed to be getting together today for 2d6 gaming but several scheduling conflicts happened. I did get a chance to pull my buddy DM Steve aside & talk about an idea for future Saturday game taken from Cepheus Engine issue #8. 

If your into 2d6 Pulp action then this is the issue for you! Seriously go download it I'll wait. 'The Space Patrol by P-O Bergstedt is a perfect little campaign to introduce some of the ideas of Michael Brown's 'Thrill of the Thirties! 2D6 Adventure in the Pulp Era'.

You can pretty much get an entire game campaign series of 2d6 adventures off the ground with those two resources. And given the adventure & campaign material in Cepheus Journal issue #8 with the Space Force material, the Cepheus Engine War of the Worlds Martians, not to mention The Space Patrol there's enough to jump start a couple of campaign sessions. 

 Cepheus Engine Journal Issue #8  Is Available Right Over Here 

OSR Commentary - Going 2d6 Fantasy Dark Ages In Your 2d6 Old School Science Fiction campaigns!

 So I've been considering doing a failed colony world in my Stars Without Numbers rpg game/Cepheus Engine rpg campaigns  & yes, Other Dust is an option. But the players actually know that resource front to back. So I drifted back to Michael Brown's Afterday &  Cepheus Atom. This blog post is going to pick right up from this one here. 

Afterday presents quite a few resources that line up with a limited post apocalyptic world. And its great for Cepheus Engine powered campagins. Cepheus Atom brings the 2d6 gonzo to the table in spades with its mutations, & other post apocalyptic resources. 
The wastelands of our colony world may have access to  entropic  weaponry and so this brings the dangers of those reality warping weapons to the table. It also explains the mutations and mutant monsters. 
Here we're thinking of going full on Cepheus Atom mode, adding in Atomic Age Barbarians, tribes of mutants, etc. 

The wastelands may have magick but I'm not sure about adding a full range of  the Sword of Cepheus fantasy rpg, here. But it might be an option here as a fantasy Dark Ages world existing in the same sector as a failed entropic wasteland world tells volumes. 

I'm thinking of forgoing the Barbaric Rpg route & going on full Sword of Cepheus because the presence of high magick adds a lot more to such a strange twist or two to the campagin mix. Could all of this be added into an Independence Game Space Western campaign?! Think 70's Dallas mixed with Game of Thrones level politic moves coupled with family politics. 

OSR Review & Commentary Magic of the Old West By Tim Ewick, Pat Ewick, & Skirmisher Game Development Group For Cthulhu Live 3rd Edition live-action role-playing game & Call of Cthulhu rpg

" In the 19th century, the American West was marked by booming technology, polarized political beliefs, territorial skirmishes, racial conflict, Civil War, and continuous expansion. This era also brought to the West an influx of other peoples — along with their religious, spiritual, and magical traditions — adding to the cultures of the indigenous Native Americans ones from Europe, China, Mexico, Central America, and Africa. These disparate influences combined with geographical isolationism and the country’s powerful, nearly raw power to alter many rituals and practices and make them uniquely American."

"This supplement to the Gold-bestselling Cthulhu Live 3rd Edition live-action role-playing game of Mythos horror introduces eight magic traditions, a new spell for each, and new mechanics for spells — rituals, components, fast casts, and visible effects — to give players a three-dimensional feel for the magic of the Old West. All of these are rules-light and easily adapted to tabletop games like Call of Cthulhu. "

So a while back Skirmisher Publishing came to me with a ton of titles &  Magic of the Old West By Tim Ewick, Pat Ewick, &  the Skirmisher Game Development Group came up on the drive. Magic of the Old West isn't that expensive at .99 & only comes to six pages. In those six pages it manages to squeeze out a bit about most of the occult practices of the Old West. 
And it's not a bad little add on for other Call of Cthluhu rpg campaigns and this includes Chaosium's Down Darker Trails CoC supplement. 

Down Darker Trails covers a ton of historical Old West & pop culture weirdness such influences such as  Valley of Gwangi, Dead Birds (mythologies ), Bone Tomahawk, Dead Man, The Burrowers, Lone Ranger  comic books & radio program as well El Topo...&  all the spaghetti westerns tropes. 
What Magic of the Old West covers is some of the magicks & occult practices that Down Darker Trails didn't cover such as Vodun, Chinese magicks, some of the plains Native American practices. Even bits and pieces of other traditions of  indigenous Native Americans ones & others imported  from Europe, China, Mexico, Central America, and Africa. And all of this fits right into six pages of gaming goodness. Could Magic of the Old West be used for other Western rpg's?! Yes with some serious modification and I'm seriously looking at the 2d6 goodness of Independence Games Rider rpg here. And while there's no magick in the game per say it wouldn't be to hard to do a bit of conversion. 

How?! Well there's a few options but Michael Brown's 2d6 Magic is an option to add in a bit of that old black magick to the Rider rpg. But that's a blog entry for another time. Skirmisher's Magic of the Old West is a solid little six page old school supplement for your favorite Call of Cthulhu rpg to add a bit of an occult twist or to the Old West. 

You can grab Magic of the Old West By Tim Ewick, Pat Ewick, &  Skirmisher Game Development Group For  Cthulhu Live 3rd Edition live-action role-playing game & Call of Cthulhu rpg Right Here. 

Review & Commentary On Michael Brown's Realms of Unbound Fantasy For 2d6 Old School Fantasy Adventures & Cepheus Engine rpg

 "An armor-clad warrior unsheathes her sword, preparing to lay an abomination low. A robed recluse dares forbidden tomes in a quest for deeper magics. A cloaked skulker carefully studies his next burglary target. A representative of the gods prepares to make more converts one way or the other. Meanwhile, non-human eyes watch and wait for weakness…

Authors such as J.R.R. Tolkien, Fritz Leiber, Jack Vance, and others crafted worlds of blade, sorcery, and the fantastic that not only enthralled readers and spawned a literary genre but inspired the first roleplaying games. These games have always been for players using other systems, but now 2D6 players can visit their favorite fantasy worlds. Of Realms Unbounded is an RPG supplement based on the Mongoose 1st Edition 2D6 OGL system (which is itself based on The Original Science-Fiction Roleplaying Game first published in the 1970s) and adapted to create heroes and adventures suitable for a fantasy campaign. The system stays well out of the way of the Referee’s and the players’ imagination, allowing them to craft the world they desire. The rules include several adventuring careers (using a familiar lifepath and skill-acquisition mechanic), customizable to emulate the character classes of The Original Fantasy Roleplaying Game; familiar fantasy races and monsters translated into 2D6; rules for improvised weapons; a streamlined Aging mechanic; a lean armor system; and even includes the rules for Magic use in the 2D6 system.

Of Realms Unbounded. Fantastic adventure awaits! Are you prepared?"

 Michael Brown's Realms of Unbound Fantasy is a fantasy addition to the Sword of Cepheus Engine rpg that emulates the worlds most popular fantasy role playing game. In thirty pages Realms of Unbound Fantasy brings life paths, careers, and more that seek to emulate a certain rpg that will not be named for copyright & trademark reasons.  At its heart & soul Realms of Unbound Fantasy seeks to create doughy adventurers. The game's life, career, & skill path will be familiar to old school Traveller black box players & Cepheus Engine players. The game really does provide a neat little series of life path events to create your old school fantasy PC's. And it does set up a very basic to expert style of fantasy rpg situation. While Stellagema's Sword of Cepheus does all of this Realms of Unbound Fantasy came out two years before Sword. 
One might actually see Realms of Unbound Fantasy as a sorta of alternative Sword of Cepheus PC system but this isn't doing the rpg supplement justice. Instead Realms of Unbound Fantasy should be looked at as another add on to Michael Brown's extensive catalog of Cepheus Engine rpg books. 
From a design perspective Michael Brown has created Realms as a sort of bridge gap or add on book for his Cepheus Engine books to emulate the world's most popular fantasy rpg. 

The game has all of the basic & advanced optional monsters & creatures to run a very well defined game. The fact is right on the face of it a DM with players potentially could run their own Realms game quite easily. One potential problem that players have voiced to me is the lack of  a Realms of Unbound Fantasy PC sheet. Role players want definiation within their games and this is especially true of fantasy rpg's. 
Realms of Unbound Fantasy does a nice job of filling a very specific niche role that everyone seems to miss. That is when you want to run a fantasy rpg adventure without having to go as extensive as say Sword of Cepheus. But you want an evening's entertainment of a several sessions fantasy adventure.  Michael Brown's Realms of Unbound Fantasy fufills that role quite nicely. Four out of five stars for  Michael Brown's Realms of Unbound Fantasy. 

Review & Commentary On Afterday: 2D6 Adventure After the Apocalypse From Michael Brown For The Cepheus Engine & 2d6 Old School Science Fiction Rpg Campaigns

 Everyone who goes to the Southwestern United States loves ghost towns & the remains of mines from the centuries of the Old West. The tourist industry thrives on them out there and by default players love 2d6 post apocalpyse adventuring & playing. And when wants to visit a failed colony world in the Clement Sector?! There are a number of 2d6 options on the table for the Cepheus Engine. But Michael Brown's Afterday: 2D6 Adventure After the Apocalypse isn't usually on the lips of players & DM's.

 And this is something that I'm counting on. You see  Afterday: 2D6 Adventure After the Apocalypse is only 26 pages long & hits that 2d6 sweet spot for post apoclapytic game play. Why because it hits that sweet spot with more 2d6 skill, career, & more for post apocalyptic adventuring. And it does this by creating variations on existing Cepheus Engine careers & skill paths. But where  Afterday: 2D6 Adventure After the Apocalypse excels is the fact that it builts on the existing rules by giving more options at the table top rpg level. Is  Afterday: 2D6 Adventure After the Apocalypse  able to stand on its own?! Yes! But where it shines is when its paired with other existing Cepheus Engine products and this comes across especially with the Cepheus Engine rpg rules. Because stumbling upon a post apocalyptic world or failed colony is always both a puzzle & a hazard.

 Afterday: 2D6 Adventure After the Apocalypse isn't Gamma World, if your looking for that I suggest another set of 2d6 Cepheus Engine rpg rules in the form of Stella Gemma's Cepheus Atom. Then you're going to get a far more gonzo set of parameters for your 2d6 campaign settings. This is a greatr pairing but if we slide to the right a bit more with  Afterday: 2D6 Adventure After the Apocalypse & say Barbaric! then things begin to warp & become even weirder ala Thundarr The Barbarian. 

The failed colony has slid down the laddar of barbarianism based on old half remembered video games, legends of fantasty role playing games and more. The colonists have evolved into the roles of video game classes. 
If we go down the rabbit hole of the Clement Sector then the failed  colonists could take the pace of the American Indians ala something out of Firefly for a Space Western setting. The failed colony world describes some of those who have remained behind to transcend into the orbital remains of the space stations and fueling stations in orbit around the planet. And this really gets into the flexibility of  Afterday: 2D6 Adventure After the Apocalypse. The rules are crisp, easy to use, and plug into the very heart of some of the ideals of 2d6 Science Fiction rpg's.  Afterday: 2D6 Adventure After the Apocalypse is a classy, solidly done, and easy to use set of rules.