OSR Commentary On The Warriors of the Red Planet Rpg - The Martian Underworld

 So I haven't been writing this blog due to a serious family emergency. It's times like this when I've had to really lean back into OSR games that I find comforting. For myself I find Warriors of the Red Planet rpg very comforting. In the back of the Warriors of the Red Planet rpg it discusses the Martian underworld of Edgar Rice Burroughs, VD Vance, Leigh Brackett and other classic Pulp writers. 

The Martian underworld is an extensive series of tunnels, passages, dungeons, ruins, etc that crisscross into one another. These underworld enviroments are forgotten ancient Martian bunkers, ruins,dungeons,that hold many of the secrets of Mars. These places are also pregnant with ancient artifacts, forgotten cities, and much more. They are highly extensive places where anything might be found. These forgotten tunnels and passages even crisscross under Martian cities, forgotten temples, and more. 

The Mutant Future Wiki has a great overview of the Warriors of the Red Planet rpg rules here. And it brings to mind how the Martian underworld might be shaped by a post apocalpytic theme. According to the Mutant Future wiki entry:"Due to the similar nature between old-school pulp sci-fi and post-apocalypses science-fantasy, Warriors of the Red Planet can be used wholesale to run a Gamma World-styled setting, or maybe picked piecemeal for one's Gamma World or Mutant Future game."

How might this effect the landscape of a Martian underworld?! The alien nature of Mars suggests that a post apocalyptic Mars might well influence the underworld in a very Pulpy direction with the underworld holding the last remaining secrets of Martian culture and civilazation. 

This does not preclude the fact that such an underworld would be extensive and seriously crowded with competing factions going for resources, food, artifacts, and more. This makes such an underworld have extremely colourful Martian races, monsters, mutants, and more. 

This begets the vision of how one incorporates these ideas into a whole cloth vision of the underworld. There could even be possible aliens living in these underworld locations such as cities. The possibilities of such a world bringing adventurers as fresh blood isn't that far fetched. The underworld itself might be alive and very hungrey.

So which side of the narrow tunnel will your PC's be? Fodder for such  ruin or dungeon could be at the heart of such a con or occurance. The living dungeon is a good representive of some of the core concepts of an extensive living and breathing part of such an underworld especially on Mars. 

Campaign Update, Colonial Troopers Rpg, Night Owl Workshp, Session Report, The Red Room - The Stars Are On Fire

  " The stars are on fire with war! There are rich alien races bank rolling Earth's armies to act as soldiers in an ever increasing corporate war! "

So I've been rereading Colonial Troopers & this blog entry is going to pick right up from here & combining it with Orbital Decay. Orbital Decay shares several elements with Colonial Troopers. There are several other things that I want to drop into this campaign: 

1. Machinvores are selectively feeding humanity bits and pieces of biotechnological technology. This includes bio boasted clone soldiers in addition to power armor.
2. Power armor is the great equalizer for turning ordinary humans into super soldiers. 
3. Humanity is coming face to face with other races that have been in Black a lot longer. The johnny come latelies are humanity to the intergalatic scene. 
   
   
   
   
   In Colonial Troopers PC's can choose between classes such as agent, hunter, diplomat, mercenary, trooper, and pilot as well mixing classes with the usual OD&D penalties. Races include Rackni (K’tk^nit’m~on) are alien biological adapting spideroids ,Humans, Lur (Clodhoppers) are giant eight legged vaguely reptilian aliens ,Zassarians (Skinnies, or Scalies) alien thin reptilian humanoids,Synthetic (Syntiacs)(self contained androids created by joint alien/human technologies) & Zealots are an ideology as much as a mixed factional race if you will.
   This gives a much more fractured intergalatic picture where humanity is just starting to see the depths of the stellar scene. Those depths are highly unsettled & the Machinvores are a very minor race whose true interests lay with the Beyond.
   
   
   In our campaign The Asian Coalition's Bejing colony & India's Shiva colony are both in the Orrt cloud. These haven't been heard from in a very long time and though in the last campaign we left trained veterans. There hasn't been a whole lot of communication with the Earth Federation. 
   The Orrt Cloud is known to be home for several very aggressive alien species many of which have ties to the Beyond's forces. There are at least two major incursions that have happened in the Cloud. 
   There's a decent number of resources that the Earth Federation has tapped into and shipped back home. 
   The question is if it's economically viable for the corporations to bankroll a strike upon thier old colonies or to use mercenary forces to retake those assets. 
   These assets include colonies, ore processsing facilities, space craft mainteniance hangers, colonial caches for up coming settlements and more. 

Campaign Take Over - The Red Room's Orbital Decay & Night Owl Workshop's Colonial Troopers Campaign

 The stars are on fire with war! There are rich alien races bank rolling Earth's armies to act as soldiers in an ever increasing corporate war! 

DM Paul has a scheduling conflict and wants me to take over his  Colonial Troopers/Orbital Decay campaign. I want to start modifying this campaign and bring in several adventure elements:

1. More weird living technologies in day to day life.  
2. A wide array of clones and bio engineered androids taking over some of the fighting jobs 
3. Interconnecting adventure elements that hook into other Wretched settings. 
4. This game picks right up from April of this year's campaign here. 

The American Federation has been making strides into the outer galaxy. Here's where humanity is finding out that it's the 'johnny come lately' of the interstellar scene. There are far older alien races that have been at each other's throat for a very long time. 
My PC from last game is going to be an important NPC whose going to be bank rolling his own mercenary unit & starship. He's out to protect his investiment & expand upon the war front investiments. 

I've got a major update coming from Aviladad but our players are hot to find out what happened to two major colonies that we had to leave behind. The Asian Coalition's Bejing colony & India's Shiva colony are both in the Orrt cloud. There's reason to believe that they are now under alien control. 
This is one of the leading hooks into the campaign. What has happened to these colonies?! Are the humans still alive or have there been horrid changes that have occured?! 

The Crime Scene - The Red Room's Orbital Decay & Night Owl Workshop's Colonial Troopers - Session Report

 Let's get into it from today's game session with DM Paul aboard the 'haunted' space station. Our party has been able to cut into the 'Engineering ' section despite attempts by the monsters to keep us out. Inside engineering after one of our psionists put up a protection zone we found an interdimensional door. This door was allowing the monsters to enter into our home space time contuum! We doubled our protection and began the task of clearing the room. This session picks right up from April 25th's session with the report right here on the blog. 

For our two psionists things got very difficult as they held off the monsters as we took over the disputed section of 'Engineering'. We began to go room to room after one of the psionists disrupted on the monsters mid phase leaving it trapped inside the station bulkhead as it's scream echoed into infinity! We then went room to room taking out any of the monster's victims. The rest of our party focused on making the Colonial Trooper's viewers & patrons happy with some good old fashioned violence as alien horrors tried to overrun our position. 
Because my PC is a pure colonial trooper he has a patron who backs him with money for ammo, maintence, and more. The patrons meanwhile keep an eye on the numbers of viewers who watch 'The Troopers' show. A zero net reality 3D reality show that finiances the escalating interstellar war. 

Things have been getting a bit desparate as the interstellar war is actually unfolding around the audience. Sometimes coming a little too close for comfort. 

We reached the reactor room and found evidence that someone aboard the station opened a dimensional doorway through ritual magick. Apparently for thier trouble they were turned inside out and the remains of the fool attacked us as a disgusting psychic slime! 
I swear the thing was trying to talk as we took it out with lasers and then a flame grenade. We left nothing of the 'crime scence' standing. Then it was more of the alien horrors but we were able too hold the reactor room for now. Then it was flamers all around! We didn't want to leave anything too attack us! 

Deeper & Deeper Into The Station From Hell - The Red Room's Orbital Decay & Night Owl Workshop's Colonial Troopers - Session Report

 Tonight's  DM Paul's Colonial Troopers/Orbital Decay campaign and tonight's game picks right up where we were in last week's session. Our scientist Pu ar aj created a device that can disrupt the phasing ability of the alien monsters we were dealing with. 

The catch was that the device could only work from room to room. My Colonial Trooper PC and the rest of our mercs went from room to room putting Matt our engineer and psychic to work. We left two of our alien friends partially phased into a bulkhead. That was one down and more to go. Just as Matt threw up a field saving my character from two acid edged claws. 
Our PC's are looking for the artifact that the scientists took on board which seems to be holding open the dimensional gate the alien monsters are using. The aliens took one of psychics a healer named DEV by phasing her through the wall of the Science section! 

The monsters seem to be attacking in a directed pattern and our PC's laser rifles are set not to blow holds in the station's walls or floors. So it's been partially a 'cat & mouse' game with these horrors.  Our next objective is the station's engineering & reactor room. 

Tides In The Void - The Red Room's Orbital Decay & Night Owl Workshop's Colonial Troopers - Session Report

 Over the weeekend, I got a chance to play in DM Paul's Colonial Troopers/Orbital Decay . This is a pick up on a gam that we played back in Febuary. Here's the session report from that on game!  Here we find ourselves back in the Orrt Cloud investigating Science station that's gone off line. 

We had a mixed party of adventurers who had been in the service. I however was playing a pure colonial trooper mercenary with a wealthy patron who was bank rolling my armor. We had a mixed party of mercenaries, explorers, and spacers. We dived closer to the Eclipse station D.E.E.P. asteroid monitoring & Science station. 
 The station was a complete mess when we got there. Solar arrays and power was fragmented across the top of the station. Not good. 

We were working for the American Federation and things were going from bad to worse. Power was completely off in the station. So we had to connect power from our ship. We did the manual locks and our fourth level psionic psionic and engineer scanned the place. 
The impressions weren't good at all. And as we entered we found body parts floating in the void of the station. We got the computer back on line and found out that the Science station had taken on an artifact of unknown origin. And then all Hell broke loose. 

Karl my character came in and started scanning the outer interior of the of the Science station. Immediately, I was attacked by two nasty alien things. Thier claws were acid edged. And I quickly brought my laser pistol to bare. The thing had been programmed so that I didn't blow a hole in the station. 
Packing deeper into the station I found two of the scientists partially phased into the wall. This was bad news. 
Matt our engineer joined me and threw up a psychic shield just as one of the monsters launched himself at our party. Scott our spacer threw two multi dimensional foam grenades!  And really screwed with the phasing abilities of the aliens. The aliens were stuck for the moment. 
Communication seemed to be off the table. And we really wanted to save the station if possible. More to come. 

Mirages & The Crown of Herod - A Campaign For The Wretched Interbellum Campaign Setting By The Red Room For The Wretched Rpg System

 

In the New England town of Hudsonville New York state in 1923 Gravus Hudson last of the Hudson family line passes on. Gravus was a seeker after forbidden and weird collector's items. Gravus has collected the Crown of Herod a piece dating back to the time of Christ. The crown was supposedly worn by King Herod himself & allows the owner to return a person to life via Wretched Folklore page 15 three times per week. The crown also has has several other minor powers but counts as a minor relic ala Raiders of the Lost rpg relic.  Night Owl Workshop's Raiders of the Lost Artifacts rpg has a ton on the background of relics for OSR games. 

Gravus recovered the crown from the remains of a death cult in the Middle East. And while he has out run the curse of the cult, the Crown of Herod has attracted the attention of the Mortican. The Mortican is a vastly powerful entity of the Beyond a literal lord of Death. The Mortican wants the crown because it has the ability to disrupt his hold over Hudsonville. Hudsonville has had an incredible loss of life during World War I. The Mortican wants all of the dead for interdimensional slaves and conqueror all of Hudsonville. 

Characters using any psychic or psionic abilities will have visions of mounds and piles of corpses with the oncoming World War II looming in the background. The dead's reflection in the Beyond have called the Mortican and his attachment to the crown. 

Add in the fact that German agents have been tracking the crown ever since it was sold on the Berlin black market. These are 3rd level PC's who will stop at nothing to recover the crown. At night the murder balls of the Mortican will stop at nothing to track down the crown. 

AC: 18 (natural armor + dexterity)

HP: 24 (8d4+8)

Speed: 60’ fly

STR: 4 (-3), DEX: 20 (+5), CON: 12 (+1), INT: 6 (-2), WIS: 16 (+3), CHA: 6 (-2)

Saves: Dexterity +7

Skills: Perception +5, Stealth +7

Damage Resistances: Bludgeoning, Slashing, Piercing from non-magical non-adamantine weapons

Damage Immunities: Cold, Lightning, Fire, Poison

Condition Immunities: Charm, Exhaustion, Frightened, Paralyzed, Petrified, Poisoned

Senses: Darkvision 120 ft., Passive Perception: 15

Languages: Understands Deep Speech, cannot speak

Challenge: 2 (450xp) Spike 1d6+3

Laser blast 1d8

Drill. While attached to a target, the Murder Orb can use its action to drill into its victim’s flesh. This causes an automatic 2d6 damage. Murder Orb Stats by Bernie The Flumph's blog entry here.

The PC's can recover the Crown of Herod and send the Mortican back his realm in the Beyond. But it is doubtful that they can learn the full exent of the crown's powers. The Mortican can summon 1d6 zombies or other undead five times per day. He is more like a force of nature then an actual supernatural entity bending time and space to his will. 

OSR Review & Commentary On Wretched Interbellum Campaign Setting By The Red Room For The Wretched Rpg System

 "The shadows of the Great War still loom large in this uneasy interwar period, coloured by the lingering trauma of unprecedented violence that swept the world from 1914 to 1918. Unsettled borders, crumbling empires, and new regimes leave the political landscape fraught with tension. Strange occult forces stirred by wartime bloodshed now threaten the fabric of reality. You take on the role of adventurers in this uncertain era, navigating landscapes scarred by the horrors of trench warfare. Like the roguish sailor Corto Maltese or Steinbeck’s wandering souls, you may have no allegiances beyond your own code of honour. Alliances are prerequisites for survival, yet trust is scarce among scheming factions vying for power in the ashes of war. Moral compasses waver like ships in a storm, the lines between heroes and villains obscured in swirling fog." Ever since Wretched Interbellum Campaign Setting By The Red Room was announced we've been waiting for it. And Wretched Interbellum does not disappoint. If your looking to get your Wretchedverse on with Indianna Jones with a European flare then Wretched Interbellum might just be the campaign setting for you and your players.

What is the  Wretched Interbellum Campaign Setting ?! This is the time period right after the Great War aka World War I and World War two. These were the years leading up to the Great Depression in America and a time of great instability in Europe. And it's in the center of this time instability that we find ourselves. The  Wretched Interbellum Campaign Setting clocks in at three  hundred and sixty nine pages of disillusioned veterans, vagabonds, drifters, adventurers, and the like. The kind of scum and decidence that Indy and co would find themselves right at home with. 
Add to this the unknown of the supernatural and weird making the  Wretched Interbellum Campaign Setting weird, different, and strange. This campaign setting has a bit of everything from European Pulp asthetics to full on Weird Tales strangeness. All of this wraps itself around a Europe railing back from World War I while the social fabric is a powder keg watching the steady rise of facism in Germany and Italy. Oh did I happen to mention the fact that your playing the not so nice scum & adventurers who are trying to make it against the Pulp Noir background of the  Wretched Interbellum Campaign Setting?
Lost worlds, supernatural horrors, and worse all exist right along with a Europe hip deep in the blood of the horrors of World War I. Blood soaked battle fields where the dead do not rest easy on one side of the world while lost worlds teaming with ancient tribal warriors who want to sacrifice you exist on the other side of the world to lost gods of the Beyond. Yes this is a time when men and women can and will make thier fortunes but it's also a time when thousands will perish in the blink of an eye with World War II looming on the horizon. 
The  Wretched Interbellum Campaign Setting is perfect for the DM looking to move up his or her Wretched Epoque campaign into the next era. There are brand new PC options,skills, backgrounds, historical notes, etc. within this expansive campaign. And there are lots & lots of new details on Europe against the  Wretched Interbellum Campaign Setting. And the campaign setting is a solid one with lots of European and world details taking full advantage of both historical and fictional Wretchedverse details. 
This is without a doubt one of the best game campaign settings that I've seen out of the Wretchedverse. And because it continues the Europe of Wretched Epoque there's a ton of utility and use for Wretched Interbellum. 

Is Wretched Interbellum worth getting?! In a word, oh yes there's tons of adventure potential. And lots of fiction that can be pillaged to create a full on Wretched Interbellum campaign. And for the OSR Wretched Interbellum is perfect for use as a campaign for Night Owl Workshop's Raiders of the Lost Artifacts rpg. 
Wanna get your Indianna Jones on with a twist or two?! You can use Wretched Interbellum as the campaign and Raiders as the OSR system. The two work really well together.  

The Frightening OSR Fifties - Monsters,Madmen, Mutants & Megadungeons

Tonight's deep dive into the alternative 'OSR Popcultural history' setting with the start of a slew of mutating & muarading monsters starting with Gojira himself. The 'Gojira incident' marks the first time that the world would see the use of the 'oxygen destoryer' invented by Daisuke Serizawa whose ground breaking work is still being felt today.  
The Fifties also brought on several unique challenges with the advent of mutation taking the world on by storm. The advent of Gojira & many of his ilk led the way for incredible strives in the fields of medicine,military applications, & even into space exploration. 

But it was the ground breaking work of Professor Xavier that really lead to the breaking of the X gene which led into the fields of modern gene works & even telepathic devices. Fifty four would also mark the first appearances of the so called 'Magneto' & his brotherhood.  Several minor incidents lead to veiled connections to Xavier but nothing was ever proven. This also marked the appearance of one of several Mr.Hyde's a possible mutant criminal or family of criminals. 

Professor Richards & Wernher von Braun had access to be German Vril drives, the Roswell crash materials, & even several hyperdrives through very unusual circumstances. Von Braun concluded that these drives were very risky & dangerous to his vision of a interstellar humanity. Richards didn't share his opinion & started working on his own system several of YoYo Dyne Propulsion's patients. This caused a bit of a breech in the relationship between Von Braun & Richards. Richards made incredible strides using the 'over thruster' a key  of the hyperdrive &  warp drive technologies respectively. 

The Fifties were the same era when the discovery of the 'hallow earth' areas marked the appearance of several 'lost world' monsters throughout the world.These monsters have terrorized farming communities out in Midwest for decades. 

The sudden appearances of 'lost worlds' throughout the Fifties often saw the increase in 'Mythos terrorism' incidents. These incidents including the 'Cyprus hills' affair marked a turning point when the US military was brought in. This also marked the return of the Gillman species to the world again. The Gillman is a powerful & highly dangerous subspecies of the Lovecraftian Deep Ones. 

The Mythos incidents led to the push back of the alien Abeloth in Bikini Atoll, in the Marshall Islands. This led to the so called 'The Castle Romeo nuclear test explosion' which wasn't a test at all but a sealing of the war between mankind & the so called 'Abominations'. 

Alright so this is part of the back part of my Alternative Seventies campaign. I've been quietly working my way through the Fifties. Going from there using the timeline campaign method I learned from my uncle all of those years ago. So how would I go about running this campaign?! Part of my brain wants to use Raiders of the Lost Artifacts by Night Owl Workshop. 

But part of me is really interested in Eldritch Tales: Lovecraftian White Box Role-Playing By Raven God Games now bare in mind I grabbed it. Hmm its been interesting to say the least. I'd actually combined Raiders of the Lost Artifacts &  Eldritch Tales: Lovecraftian White Box Role-Playing into a hybrid OSR system. 

Eldritch Tales: Lovecraftian White Box Role-Playing seems a bit too concise to me in places. The game is great but I like my PC's to have a fighting chance & these are some of the most dangerous mythos monsters out there..  So what megadungeon might I run with this?! Possibly one of my stranger choices might be Operation Unfathomable by Jason Sholtis for this leg of the campaign.