1d10 Random Lovecraftian Items and Finds After The UFO Leaves Encounter Table For Your Old School Science Fantasy Campaign

 

What do we know … of the world and the universe about us? Our means of receiving impressions are absurdly few, and our notions of surrounding objects infinitely narrow. We see things only as we are constructed to see them, and can gain no idea of their absolute nature. With five feeble senses we pretend to comprehend the boundlessly complex cosmos, yet other beings with wider, stronger, or different range of senses might not only see very differently the things we see, but might see and study whole worlds of matter, energy, and life which lie close at hand yet can never be detected with the senses we have.

"From Beyond" Written November 16, 1920, published June 1934 in The Fantasy Fan, 1

 HP Lovecraft 

The PC's suddenly have an alien encounter with a sanity shattering alien presence from beyond their  campaign world and something truly alien was left behind! But what? Some of the following items have appeared in this handy random 1d10 generator of horror and insanity.

1d10 Random Lovecraftian Items and

Finds After The UFO Leaves Encounter Table 

1. A pile 1d100 tons of squirming rot grubs that appears to be getting bigger every 1d4 rounds. The smell of rot and rancid flesh fills the air. 
2. A strange machine about the size of a bread box pulses with unnatural energies and weird colours from beyond the pale of mankind. Any PC's exposed to it must make a mutation check and find themselves upon another plane where the hounds of Tindalos await them. 
3. A single statue of some alien entity made from the discarded junk and trash of the surrounding villages and cities. Then the thing begins to move and speak. There is a 20% chance of it being a minor Outer God. 
4. A single sheet of oddly coloured living flesh, it is about bed sheet size. The thing looks alive with hair, pores, and it is slick with sweat when an eye and mouth open upon the surface of the thing. 
5. A statue of cut crystal and glass with still living humanoid organs within it. The thing is humming with chanting and insanity. It is warm and wet to the touch. Once per round it will try to reach into the holder's mind to whisper secrets of a most disturbing nature. The mind of a wizard of sixth level is trapped within it from another universe. 
6. A pile of wet remains of some small humanoid are piled at the center of a burn make in the soil. There is a small burnt up device of some oil based case that has been melted into the thing's hand. Then the chanting starts. 
7. A single demon skull covered with strange and alien writing. There are two cut crystal eyes that seem to sparkle and swim when you look at them. The will open a dimensional door every two and a half hours four meters from the skull. Random location but something awaits you and you know deep in the bowels of your soul that you may not return. 
8. A jar of alien soil that conceals a swarm of odd green coloured glowing worms. They telepathically implore you to put one in your ear. They claim to mean you know harm and they have come from a dying star. They may impart minor psychic abilities but they have a dire hidden agenda. They would speak with you about the coming of Hastur. 
9. The brain parts of some vast alien entity lie glowing and scattered about the place. There is a 20% chance of them belonging to a very pissed off Star Spawn of Cthulhu. The thing will arrive within 1d4 hours and begin looking for those responsible. The thing's brain parts may grow into small horrid glowing troll like monsters with tendriled faces. They will try to kill anything present. The regenerate as trolls and will grow into full sized monsters with 20 minutes from the time of you finding this. 
10. You find a staff made of glowing bio organic material shaped by years of weathering and age from countless years. There are incredibly horrid and gross designs of a bio-mechanical aspect worked into the thing. As soon as one touches it they will be in contact with the mind of Azathoth. The thing may try to possess them and reek havoc on the countryside. The staff is the property of some alien half demonic wizard who is seeking his staff. It will stop at nothing to recover it. 

1d20 After The Passing Of The Old Ones Random Lovecraftian Encounter Table For Your Old School Science Fantasy Campaign

1d20 After The Passing Of The Old Ones Random Lovecraftian Encounter Table

1. A single floating humaniod head of an unknown species singing the praises of the Old Ones. The skull is inscribed with the fifty five million names of Cthulhu. It will reveal horrid truths of the universe every 1d4 rounds. 
2. The hand of a virgin which holds the burnt remains of an ancient curse. The nails are perfect and rimmed in cherry red nail varnish. 
3. The pulped remains of a forty cultists who have been merged on a molecular level but are still alive as a horrid awfulness. The thing blinks, and stares madly at the world around it but can not die. It regenerates as a troll. It is not hostile but merely insane. 
4. A floating, twisting piece of a building that simply moves in the air and twists its way through time and space. Anyone touching the thing will be sent else where for 1d100 years randomly in space and time. The building exists in twenty different time periods throughout prehuman history. 
5. A protoplasmic infestation from the hide of one of the Great Old Ones. The thing will behave as a slime, jelly, and try to consume anyone that it can. 
6. A cloud of noxious material that is infact a remain of a thought of one of the gods. The thing will hang in the air and scan about with a weird single eye. Anyone under its gaze will be affected as if by a curse. The thing will vanish in 1d4 hours only to reappear twenty miles away.  
7.  Forty seven small 6 inch statues writhing poses of insanity and agony. A check of the locals will reveal the living residents represented by the statue live nearby. If brought in close quarters with the representation, the living person will start to bleed from ears, eyes, and mouth. The blood is not theirs but a strange blood coloured bacteria.  
8. A forty foot living sheet of human skin with hair and eyes on various points of it. 
9. A living gelatin made from the eyes of thousands of humanoid beings. They are all different colored and living but not of the same species. 
10.  A small prayer book written in an alien language with thousands of passages and spells to an unknown god. The book is bound in metal that is slightly radioactive. 
11. A ritual knife bloody and with bits of still living tissue on it's blade. The tissue is incredibly hot and will burn exposed skin as if by acid. 
12. A stack of copper plates bound in golden wire with thousands of illustrations of unknown cosmos and star systems. The plates are strung together with hundreds of knots. These knots of metal occasional have a high charge of electricity coursing through them. 
13. A lead crystal jar containing the living brain of an aristocrat. The workmanship of the jar is unknown and the brain is vivid pink and green color. Bubbles occasionally gurgle from the jar indicating life. 
14. A single giant eyeball the size of a baseball with still living tissue around it. There is a machine like apparatus attached to which seems burnt and has suffered violence. The machinery twitches and moves on it's own accord as if trying to activate. 
15. A giant metal cylinder covered and carved with the million names of Cthulhu. The thing is warm to the touch and slick with rime from the oceans depths.
16. A bag containing the living head of a person that the PC knows. The thing is actually a collection of minor Lovecraftian demons who have taken this form to play a prank. And this is the start. 
17. A bag of human flesh leather containing thousands of lots of a lottery with the names and praises of Dagon upon them. The lots also have poetry on the reverse side praising the god and cursing the PC reading them. 
18. A lattice of metal in the shape of a humanoid skull with living eyes set within it. The thing also has a brain made from the living metal of an elemental spirit bound within. The thing will try to communicate telepathically but it radiates insane and horrid thoughts of the terrors it has seen. 
19. A small jar containing the living organs of some unknown species of mankind from a million years ago. The jar will gush with blood and gore the moment it is opened. 
20. An ornate box containing the head of a wizard. The head is alive and will begin to chant the praises of Cthlhu  the moment it is opened. The thing is immortal and quite insane but every 1d6 days it may provide valuable magical  advice to those who consult it.  

1d10 Random Lovecraftian Items and Finds After The UFO Leaves Encounter Table For Your Old School Science Fantasy Campaign

• What do we know … of the world and the universe about us? Our means of receiving impressions are absurdly few, and our notions of surrounding objects infinitely narrow. We see things only as we are constructed to see them, and can gain no idea of their absolute nature. With five feeble senses we pretend to comprehend the boundlessly complex cosmos, yet other beings with wider, stronger, or different range of senses might not only see very differently the things we see, but might see and study whole worlds of matter, energy, and life which lie close at hand yet can never be detected with the senses we have.
• "From Beyond" Written November 16, 1920, published June 1934 in The Fantasy Fan, 1
   HP Lovecraft 

The PC's suddenly have an alien encounter with a sanity shattering alien presence from beyond their  campaign world and something truly alien was left behind! But what? Some of the following items have appeared in this handy random 1d10 generator of horror and insanity.

1d10 Random Lovecraftian Items and
Finds After The UFO Leaves Encounter Table 

1. A pile 1d100 tons of squirming rot grubs that appears to be getting bigger every 1d4 rounds. The smell of rot and rancid flesh fills the air. 
2. A strange machine about the size of a bread box pulses with unnatural energies and weird colours from beyond the pale of mankind. Any PC's exposed to it must make a mutation check and find themselves upon another plane where the hounds of Tindalos await them. 
3. A single statue of some alien entity made from the discarded junk and trash of the surrounding villages and cities. Then the thing begins to move and speak. There is a 20% chance of it being a minor Outer God. 
4. A single sheet of oddly coloured living flesh, it is about bed sheet size. The thing looks alive with hair, pores, and it is slick with sweat when an eye and mouth open upon the surface of the thing. 
5. A statue of cut crystal and glass with still living humanoid organs within it. The thing is humming with chanting and insanity. It is warm and wet to the touch. Once per round it will try to reach into the holder's mind to whisper secrets of a most disturbing nature. The mind of a wizard of sixth level is trapped within it from another universe. 
6. A pile of wet remains of some small humanoid are piled at the center of a burn make in the soil. There is a small burnt up device of some oil based case that has been melted into the thing's hand. Then the chanting starts. 
7. A single demon skull covered with strange and alien writing. There are two cut crystal eyes that seem to sparkle and swim when you look at them. The will open a dimensional door every two and a half hours four meters from the skull. Random location but something awaits you and you know deep in the bowels of your soul that you may not return. 
8. A jar of alien soil that conceals a swarm of odd green coloured glowing worms. They telepathically implore you to put one in your ear. They claim to mean you know harm and they have come from a dying star. They may impart minor psychic abilities but they have a dire hidden agenda. They would speak with you about the coming of Hastur. 
9. The brain parts of some vast alien entity lie glowing and scattered about the place. There is a 20% chance of them belonging to a very pissed off Star Spawn of Cthulhu. The thing will arrive within 1d4 hours and begin looking for those responsible. The thing's brain parts may grow into small horrid glowing troll like monsters with tendriled faces. They will try to kill anything present. The regenerate as trolls and will grow into full sized monsters with 20 minutes from the time of you finding this. 
10. You find a staff made of glowing bio organic material shaped by years of weathering and age from countless years. There are incredibly horrid and gross designs of a bio-mechanical aspect worked into the thing. As soon as one touches it they will be in contact with the mind of Azathoth. The thing may try to possess them and reek havoc on the countryside. The staff is the property of some alien half demonic wizard who is seeking his staff. It will stop at nothing to recover it. 

Five Old School Sci Fi Cult Movies As Inspiration For Your Old School Space Opera

Today I've been in a post Cyberpunk kinda mood today, I remembered renting, viewing and getting into all of these old school movies and animes back in the day. Today I stumbled upon this blog entry on using mecha in your Xplorers game. Right over HERE

Gunhed movie trailer 1989 

Robo Jox 1990

Cyber City 1990

HardWare 1990 

Bubble Gum Crisis 1987
 

About ninety percent of this material is easily done in Stars Without Number RPG HERE  and much of it is easily obtainable in many old school retroclone games.
For off world failed colonies, cyberpunk weirdness, and loads of high tech retro future junk these old school 80's and 90's movies and animes are mostly forgotten. 

Review and Commentary Vault of the Ages (1952.Winston) - Poul Anderson For Your Old School Space Opera Campaign

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Years ago I received this book from a friend. Recently, I've been looking into actually using some of the ideas here. This is one of Paul Anderson's first novels and while it is a juvenile book and another in the Winston series. It also has the whole post apocalytpic interstellar Dark Ages cross over thing going for it. Much of the ideas here sound like they came out of 'A Canticle for Liebowitz' but this is pure adventure and much less depressing then that classic.
The basic plot goes something like this: 

'Five hundred years from now, rival groups battle for the contents of a vault containing remnants of 20th century civilization which could guide their society out of its primitive state.'

Weirdly enough this novel might make a great cross over point for a game of Stars Without Number and OD&D. I've used the vault several times as a jump off point for several one shots over the last couple of years. 

Using The Vault of the Ages For Your Old School Space Operas 

There are at least three options that come to mind for using the Vault of The Ages. One is to simply use the basic plot as an adventure to get your O level PC's into space or taken by the ancients. This method has worked several times to cross Labyrinth Lord over into Mutant Future as well another mechanism to deal with space issues in Gamma World. Two is using Vault as a sort of 'Foundation Series' style time capsule for a very Dark Ages Style planet. 

If we take a deeper look into the plot we get more solid idea of the themes that were're dealing with. 

From an  Amazon review : 

The story is set in the Alleghenies roughly 500 years after a nuclear holocaust, Vault of the Ages tells the story peaceful farming tribes vs. fierce warriors. Carl, our lead hero and son of the village Chief is responsible for trading with the people from the ruined city to obtain metal and other needed materials form the remains of skyscrapers etc...

Carl and his companions discover a "time vault," basically a large time capsule remaining from the pre-holocaust civilization, containing numerous tools, books, models of apparatus and more depicting the sciences that have since been lost. With the aid of the newly discovered sciences and much common sense he is able to help his people.

Because of  the nature of 'Vault of the Ages', I used the book several times now with W2 for Stars Without Number. 'Relics of The Lost Age' is just the sort of artifacts, things, and nastiness that might be lurking in the vault of the novel.

 

You can get this one right over
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I'm not going to lie, years and years back I ran across 'Vaults of the Ages' in my grammar school library and used in a rather sneaky little crossover campaign. For months my players during the regular OD&D game were playing through what they thought was the usual Dark Ages Style OD&D game. It turns out that the world of Vaults of The Ages wasn't their usual campaign world but a level of the Star Ship Warden. 

Of Course that Is Available Right Over
HERE
Lately I've used The 'Earth' of  The  Vault of the Ages as a jump off point for a HM Piper Space Vikings style campaign where the culture of the world was merely a forgotten focus for the interstellar one lurking out in the cosmos. The PCs were really put in the cross hairs. Does your world step into the unknown void and risk being plunder and pillage for those rascals from the Sword Worlds, do you stay isolated and content or strike out among the stars, or do you merely build your world into a power allowing your sons and daughters to shine. This last game worked well for both SWN and X plorers where the vault became one of many and the 'dungeons were more then mere toys and play things for the local wizards. So what's it going to be? What will be in your version of the Vault of the Ages? Treasures to rebuild your world or treasures to take you to many other worlds. 

Review And Commentary On The Free Old School Science Fiction Download Marooned On Mars By Lester Rey For Your Old School Space Opera Campaign

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Part of The Winston Science Fiction series Marooned on Mars is a quick, easy, and solid read. Readily available in the public domain this one makes a great introduction to the Red Planet.
According to wiki: Marooned on Mars is a 1952 juvenile science fiction novel by Lester Del Rey. Illustrations in the first edition are by Alex Schomburg. It was originally commissioned as one of the first five volumes in the Winston Science Fiction series published by the John C. Winston company.

Much of the material here is solid old school science fiction Sol system action.
The plot could have been something right out of Captain Video from the 50's and the plot has a great retro future feel to it. 

Chuck Svenson, a seventeen-year-old living on the Moon, is chosen to be one of six crew members of the first spaceship to travel to Mars. His juvenile status keeps him from being allowed to take the position, once his age is discovered. He boards as a stowaway, and is accepted by the other crew upon discovery. The Mars landing is a disaster, damaging the ship. While attempting to repair the ship, the crew encounter aliens, who abduct Chuck without harming him. The crew learns that the aliens are friendly, and want the crew to be able to return to the Moon.

 Using Marooned On Mars For Your Old School
Space Opera Campaigns. 



 I've been looking at Marooned On Mars for the last couple of days and this book makes a great zero level adventure for a game like X plorers or even Star Frontiers with its retrofuture look and feel. The science is very outmoded in some respects but it allows the DM to vary the contents with easy. 
When it comes to a game like Stars Without Number, Maroon offers an interesting opportunity. With a bit of work the DM could use this as a zero level adventure for the party and fill in a bit of back history for PC's. Further, the plot could be transported to a Mars like world where the plot elements could be used as a first contact point adventure. 
 The PC's could be used as fodder for a follow up expedition to find out details on the crew of Chuck Svenson's space craft. The first contact details and follow up could unlock further mission details as the DM desires.
Much of the mission details of Marooned, are bits and pieces that I've used in my own Post Apocalyptic Mars campaign several times now. Dropping hints and clues to the various missions that have gone on since nineteen fifty two. 

The Del Rey Legacy and the Winston Science Fiction Series 

To say that Del Rey was an interesting character in the annals of science fiction is an understatement.
According to wiki: 

Del Rey first started publishing stories in pulp magazines in the late 1930s, at the dawn of the so-called Golden Age of Science Fiction. He was associated with the most prestigious science fiction magazine of the era, Astounding Science Fiction, from the time its editor John W. Campbell published his first short story in the April 1938 issue: "The Faithful", already under the name Lester del Rey. By the end of 1939 he had also placed stories in Weird Tales (edited by Farnsworth Wright) and Unknown (Campbell),^[2] which featured more horror and more fantasy respectively. In the 1950s, del Rey was one of the main authors writing science fiction for adolescents (along with Robert A. Heinlein and Andre Norton). During this time some of his fiction was published under the name "Erik van Lhin"
Much of the influence of Del Rey was felt though out the Seventies and you couldn't walk into a book store without stumbling into at least twenty to thirty titles with the imprint. Once again Wiki : 

Del Rey was most successful editing with his fourth wife, Judy-Lynn del Rey, at Ballantine Books (as a Random House property, post-Ballantine) where they established the fantasy and science fiction imprint Del Rey Books in 1977.^[8] After science fiction gained respectability and began to be taught in classrooms, del Rey stated that academics interested in the genre should "get out of my Ghetto."^[9][10] Del Rey stated that "to develop science fiction had to remove itself from the usual critics who viewed it from the perspective of [the] mainstream, and who judged its worth largely on its mainstream values. As part of that mainstream, it would never have had the freedom to make the choices it did – many of them quite possibly wrong, but necessary for its development."^[11] For a number of years in the 1970s, Del Rey, himself, helmed the review column for Analog Science Fiction and Fact entitled The Reference Library.

Del Rey was a member of an all-male literary banqueting club, the Trap Door Spiders, which served as the basis of Isaac Asimov's fictional group of mystery solvers, the Black Widowers. Del Rey was the model for "Emmanuel Rubin"

Review And Commentary On The Free Old School Science Fiction Download Missing Men of Saturn (1953.Winston) by Phillip Latham For Your Old School Space Opera Campaign

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 HERE
 According To Wiki:

The story concerns Dale Sutton's mission to the dreaded planet Saturn from which no one has ever returned.

 First during 1953, by astronomer and author Robert S. Richardson as (Philip Latham) with cover illustration by Alex Schomburg. 

This tale is one that I ran across back in grammar school back in the early Seventies in our school library. The cover featured a Wernher Von Braun style rocket ship on the planet Saturn by the great Alex Stromberg. It was a great tale to reference for a Star Frontiers campaign I had going back in the late 80's. I came  across the book at a tag sale for .25 cents.
This was another Winston series book that had a pretty strong tale coupled with known scientific facts about the planet Saturn of the time.
 Much of the material is perfect for a retro future campaign. Much of the material could be incorporated into a solar system heavy campaign. Both Star Frontiers and the T$R era Buck Rogers game would be perfect  from this sort of treatment that we find in  'Missing Men From Saturn'.
The plot according to Wiki : 

The story concerns Dale Sutton's mission to the dreaded planet Saturn from which no one has ever returned. Missing Men of Saturn is a part of the Winston Science Fiction set, a series of juvenile novels which have become famous for their influence on young science fiction readers and their exceptional cover illustrations by award winning artists.

This was a tight little novel, perfect for an outer world campaign actually. The author was an interesting writer in his own right. According To Wiki : Robert Shirley Richardson (April 22, 1902 – November 12, 1981)^[1] was an American astronomer, born in Kokomo, Indiana. He also published science fiction using the pseudonym Philip Latham.IMDB had more about Mr. Richardson :

 He is known for his work on Captain Video and His Video Rangers (1949), The War of the Worlds (1953) and Conquest of Space (1955). He died in November 1981.

 Using The Missing Men of Saturn For Your OSR Campaign 



There are two possible ways of using the 'Missing Men of Saturn'. The first is to use the novel as a zero level adventure for a game such as X plorers where the crew are on an ill fated mission of exploration and in way, way, over their heads.
The second is as a follow up mission using a much larger crew to determine the fate of the first crew of Dale Sutton's mission. The other possible way of using this tale is take much of the planetary material ad hoc and use it as part of the basis for a campaign. Perhaps a mining or survey mission style adventure on one of Saturn's outer moons for a more modern approach such as we have in the Stars Without Numbers rpg. All in all this is a fun little novel to grab and play around with. This novel comes from a much more innocent time period and much of the material while dated can still make a great retro future campaign. 

Review And Commentary On The Free Old School Science Fiction Download - Rocket Jockey (1952.Winston) - Philip St. John For Your Old School Space Opera

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Need a fast overview of a retro future nineteen fifties style tour of the solar system? Complete with a real settlers of the solar system vibe. This book was part of the Winston series of science fiction books for boys and girls back in the 50's. They make a great addition to a DM's arsenal of books that can be turned into instant adventures simply add water or monsters! The plot according to Wiki :

The story follows the heroic efforts of young man Jerry Blaine in his efforts to win the famous rocket race, the Armstrong Classic. Rocket Jockey is a part of the Winston Science Fiction set, a series of juvenile novels which have become famous for their influence on young science fiction readers and their exceptional cover illustrations by award winning artists.

Most often these novels are man vs man sorts of affairs of science fiction while sneaking in some science 'facts' about the planetary locations featured in the books.  Believe it or not these books are great for OSR games like X plorers or Stars Without Number when you don't have a lot of time for doing preparation for a campaign. 

Believe or not this one was by Lester Del Ray under the pen name of Philip St. John. It had a few reprints and its worth taking a look at. The story is pretty well done. The situations, ideas, and overview make a solid campaign.
 In depth Plot Overview(With Major Spoilers) according to Wiki : 

Jerry Blaine, a young man studying at the Space Institute, is kicked out just after his second year exams at the request of his brother, Dick, in order to help him get his ship, the Last Hope ready for the 18th Armstrong Classic. Jerry is initially bitter, but realizes that how he conducts himself in the classic will go a long way toward proving himself as a spaceman, and eventually being readmitted to the institute.

The Last Hope is a refitted asteroid mining ship using the Jerry and Dick's father's experimental fuel which is supposed to be a radical improvement upon existing technologies. Their parents were both killed in the first test of the fuel however, and it is only now, years later, that improvements in materials and engine design will allow the fuel to be tested again safely.

Just before liftoff, Dick is injured when fuel splashes in his face, temporarily blinding him. Jerry is forced to take control of the Last Hopewhile his brother is incapacitated below decks. The qualification run to the moon is begun, and Jerry is racing against 10 other ships from earth for the right to represent their home planet in the classic proper. Jerry manages to win, but only after he witnesses the first fatality of the classic; a fellow earth pilot pushes his engines too hard and his ship overheats and is destroyed.

After some political wrangling on the Moon that puts Jerry officially in charge of the Last Hope despite his brother's seeming recovery, they head out to touch on the 4 Galilean moons, Mars, and Venus. Heading for Mars first they make good time and land with high spirits.

The Martians are not happy to see them, however. There has always been a bitter rivalry between the two worlds, and Mars has a reputation for winning the classic at all costs and through any means, scrupulous or otherwise. When they try to refuel the Last Hopethey discover their shipment of fuel has somehow disappeared from the warehouse in which it was stored. A long drawn out search finally locates the missing fuel in a pile of garbage that was ready for destruction. Jerry, Dick, and Tod all believe that Mars was intentionally responsible for the delay of 18 hours searching for the fuel. They take off from Mars and head towards Jupiter.

Halfway however, Jerry discovers that Dick has not fully recovered from his injuries. He becomes sick and delirious, and they are forced to turn back to Mars to get Dick the medical care he needs. By the time the Last Hope leaves Mars for the second time, they are nearly 100 hours behind schedule, and their carefully planned course is now useless.

En route to Jupiter for the second time the Last Hope loses power due to a blockage of the rocket tube. Losing more time, they coast while making repairs. Unfortunately, they coast so far, they no longer have the distance necessary to decelerate to rendezvous with the Jovian moons. Jerry is forced into a nearly suicidal braking maneuver into the Jovian atmosphere known as the "Dead Man's Orbit". Despite Jerry's vague recollections, such a feat had never before been accomplished, and he receives admiration and applause upon arrival on Io.

After visiting the other 3 Jovian moons and experiencing an unfriendly reception on Ganymede, considered by many to be a puppet of Mars, the Last Hope set course back to the inner planets: Venus, Mercury, and Earth. While approaching the asteroid belt, they intercept a distress call, and come to the aid of what appears to be the Martian racers. After rendering assistance and parting ways, Jerry realizes his asteroid chart has been stolen. He must now navigate the belt by memory and luck.

After some close calls and an actual impact with a small pebble, the Last Hope makes it through the belt relatively unscathed. Because of the delay with the decoy Mars racer, they are no longer in a position to rendezvous with Venus. Mercury is now their best stop.

Once  Again Wiki: 

As a part of the Winston Science Fiction set, Rocket Jockey has helped lay the foundation for many young science fiction readers. The dust jacket was illustrated by Alex Schomburg, a prolific comic artist, and Hugo award nominee for Best Professional Artist in 1962.

 The plot concerns a desperate race against odds put against the backdrop of interstellar politics and spacecraft. The book is well written and a fast read. The ideas still ring well and the book isn't that well known at all today. So borrowing plot elements for old school campaigns is a breezy.  It  would also make a great campaign for the old Buck Rogers T$R era game or for Star Frontiers as well.

Rocket Jockey takes a realistic scientific look at rocketry and space navigation, utilizing technologies that were understood at the time of publication. It extrapolates the advancement in chemical rocketry to a point where constant 1-2g acceleration is possible, making travel through the solar system a matter of days rather than years.

All in all I was pretty happy to have stumbled upon this one while doing some research for an upcoming game! 

Review And Commentary On Issue One Of Underworld Lore From Gorgon Milk and Co.

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Just in time for Halloween comes the first issue of Underworld Lore!
This issue is jam packed with everything you need to get your dungeons in high gear.Gorgon and crew did a fantastic job of breaking down some great D30 tables, weird fungus, undead options and more all in 25 pages of tomb rattling fun!
The tables can also be used to add some spice to your space dwelling dungeons aboard space wrecks and so much more.
There's even old fashion adds for AD&D and D&D products of yore!
Much of the material is focused in such a way to be as widely adaptable as possible which is a huge plus in my book. Most if not all of issue one can easily be adapted into space based or science fantasy games quite easily.

Get this one while you can! Issue two will focus on magic disease and pathogens while Issue three will be the Cimmerian one! 

Fun stuff and my highest recommendation! Seriously, I'd love to contribute to the next issue. 

Calothmaroth Station - A Lovecraftian Encounter For Your Old School Space Opera Games

Introduction 
At the edge of known space is a ringed world very similar to Saturn. There is something distinctly odd floating within the rings. A gravity bubble surrounds a small planetoid of ice,snow, and violence.
This small planet half the size of Earth's moon boasts an "E" atmosphere and very unusual ice formations across its surface. The place seems to explode as new ice formations form, live for a twelve hour day and then seemly 'die' within hours. 

Calothmaroth Station

There are twenty two massive two hundred foot tall dull metal megaliths that point straight out of the ice and seem to reach into the sky like the fingers of a drowning man. These structures surround a twelve level structure beneath the ice.
 It has sat there for a million years or more never occupied but its artifacts gleaming like new. The bare black walls of strange metal and brushed structures waiting. Those who venture into its corridors seldom return. For here once trod the 'Great Race Of Yith' who made war with other far fouler things in the darkness of this place. This place is tomb or prison.
Its walls still hold the nanite guards who once patrolled its halls. There in center of the structure is a gravity lens created by the megalith above and held in place by forces beyond the comprehension of man. The lens creating the bubble of gravity around this place. Yet the Earth like conditions are by design as well.
Once per night the prisoners of this foul place can reach into the dreams of those who dwell upon its surface. A night of telepathic horror and madness will wrack the minds of those who sleep and dream here.
Should the machinery of the place be activated 'that which dwells' here will be freed and its horrors will be visited upon the universe.
There are however priceless treasures of the 'Great Race' to be had. 
The Inimaulazgugo
Number Appearing :1d6 

Armor Class 5 

Hit points : 6
Damage 1d4 points of damage per round as the micro blades of these nanite minions slice and dice 

Special: Immune to most mind effecting magic, Regeneration as trolls
 These are the guardians of Calothmaroth Station who patrol its halls and are laced into the surface of the ice planetoid itself.
 They do not activate unless certain conditions are met. The monsters form into strange shadowy humanoids of smoke and shadow.
 They can be disrupted by a combination of  electrical damage and certain forbidden telepathic disciplines. These are known only to certain followers of the "Great Race". The machines will reform after twelve hours of seeming death and resume their duties. They will repair whatever machinery needs to be fixed. They  can weave other biological systems into the systems on a molecular level should the need arise as well. They are simply the ultimate care takers for masters who shall not return.

1d10  Random Treasures of The Calothmaroth Station

1. Chest containing the metal scroll records of 2023 extinct races from across the planes. 
2. Twelve sets of metal scrolls containing thirteen forbidden Yithian secrets that science has yet to use. 
3. 'The Perfect Doll' A four hit point featureless shape shifting doll who seems to be an alien mockery of the humanoid form. It will whisper forbidden secrets, dance, and spin while telepathically drawing its form from the minds of those around it. 
4. A Yithinan musical instrument or is it a weapon? This strange arrangement of pipes, metal, and metallic insanity is capable of sonically driving men mad but it is made for being with claws and facial tendrils 
5. A black box of nano dissemblers capable of doing 1d8 points of damage to anything they get their micro tendrils on. Telepathically controlled and very dangerous. 
6. A Yithian tool of copper wires, a metal six foot staff with a small metallic box on one end. The thing is capable of turning 9 cubic yards of stone to mist and back to stone. 
7. A 40 point specimen force field device - This twelve inch long device is built for a clawed appendage. The force field also freezes time as well. Very difficult to deactivate. 
8. A sphere of proto plasmic antimatter that will follow the PC's around. Capable of doing 1d10 points of damage to any polyp horrors that are found. Reacts to telepathic commands 
9. A heavy lightning gun partially fried and baked. There is fresh slime on the thing though and a bit of steam coming off of parts of the device. Designed for clawed appendages. 
10. Two time cubes containing members of the Great Race. These twenty foot cubes of frozen time will open should certain conditions be met otherwise they are indestructible. The machinery for their operation is within the claws of the Great Race themselves. These cubes are perfectly clear but weird gravity effects happen around them.