OSR Review & Commentary On The Black Protocol By Mark Brooks For The Darker Rpg & Red Rpg System

 "Welcome to the Sentinel Initiative.

"The reasons for your being here are not important. What is important is that you understand that from the moment you read the following excerpts from our case files, you can never turn back. You can never pretend you do not know. You can never tell what you know. This isn’t just a matter of our security. This is a matter of your survival. We are not the only watchers. "

"And not all watchers are human. The information that follows is an addendum to threats you studied in your orientation. It should be treated as Eyes Only. Do not share it with anyone. If you find a copy without a Security cover, report it immediately to your Counterintelligence and Internal Security Unit officer."

The Black Protocol By Mark Brooks is a thirty four page campaign setting, faction book and background for the Darker rpg. The Black Protocol is definitely a product of our era for OSR DM's and players who want to run a full on SCP style Darker rpg campaign; "THE BLACK PROTOCOL: Invoked by Sentinel Initiative field agents when facing a potential Level IIIE+-0 arcanohazard, and approved by a quorum of the Inner Circle, or by the Director. This requires a full assembly of 13 trusted occultists with CSU tracking numbers to assist in containing the hazard, along with whatever banal resources — armed interdiction agents, researchers, support staff — are needed to assist. This is a very expensive and very dangerous exercise, and is rarely granted. Use of CSU-tracked field specialists is also granted on a case-bycase basis."
We are taken deeply into the Darker Protocal's organization and set up as well as a number of threats for the PC's. Some of these horrors are straight up terrors that can take up a whole cloth campaign. 

The PC's are brought into a super secret government organization that tackles these supernatural threats & dark forces that threaten to destroy our world. But is The Black Protocol  worth the free download?! If your into the Red Room Red rpg system then by all means get it! 
The scope of this campaign is impressive and for the Darker rpg presents a horror rpg campaign perfect to hit the ground running and then some! The scope is global with a micro approach that works for the material. 
For New Flesh this campaign could easily be modified to work on a global level. The Black Protocols's threats could easily take over Avilidad 's Earth in spades. As a governmental body the organizations of the Black Protocols fit into it's own dark corner of Earth. They might be able to hold back the darkness for a while but it's going overwhelm them eventually.  The Black Protocol  is a well done and well thought out supplement for  the Red Rpg system. Easily integrated into your own Darker rpg & OSR horror campaigns. 

OSR Adventure Construction In The New Flesh Rpg By The Red Room crew

 "Enter the dystopian world of New Flesh, a future-noir roleplaying game where cyberpunk meets biological horror in the neon-drenched streets of Interzone. Set in then near future, when corporate power runs unchecked, this game draws inspiration from the works of William S. Burroughs, David Cronenberg, and other masters of transgressive fiction."

"New Flesh embraces the surreal and visceral, biotechnology reigns supreme over chrome and steel, transforming human bodies into corporate commodities. Underground labs conduct forbidden experiments, pleasure dens offer metamorphic experiences, and reality itself distorts in the wake of chimeric entities. In this haunting setting, player characters inhabit a world where flesh warps at corporate whim, consciousness fragments across biological interfaces, and survival demands moral compromise."

New Flesh rpg has a ton of new improvements and changes we've covered this on the blog here. The New Flesh rpg is a complete OSR rpg & setting campaign. What New Flesh does is pull from the Red rpg system and this makes it's horror far more biological & Cronenberg like. The future of New Flesh is a whole cloth Neo future nightmare campaign setting. This game takes full advantage of the historical leap in biotechnology & biological insights.

The Darker rpg has two time periods when humanity made historic changes to it's place in the universe;" the Age of Enlightenment and later the Industrial Revolution, two historical periods that fundamentally reshaped humanity’s relationship with the divine and spiritual realms." Sometime between these two games within our campaign settings there were significant historical upheavels. These cracks in the fabric of reality have allowed the Underworld to grab a foothold. These dark forces have come to shut down and destoy humanity. It's very easy to port over the ritual magick and dark powers over into New Flesh. The cults of Darker are some of the most underrated horrors within the game. And they can manifest parts of the underworld on Earth. The locations of the Underworld manifesting within the world of New Flesh between the cracks allows the horrors of the demonic to invade Aviladad and the rest of the world.In terms of the OSR and adventure locations it's not going to be enough to simply contain them. Instead the player's PC's are going to need to close any doors that the dark powers open. These doors swing both ways and perhaps the advanced weapons of New Flesh can help close these doors. The ruins of the old world are still around in the brave new world of New Flesh. Many of these ruins allow the rot of the underworld to spread. And it's these places in my humble opinion that allow a DM to bring the old world's influence into the New Flesh era. These adventure locations can be a roller coaster ride for a group of players to face.

Underworld Be Damned! - Red Room's Darker Rpg Session Report!

  The wind of the Beyond echoed in our party's ears and the house itself seemed to stretch into eternity. The pig things made thier way back into the house and down to the cellar. We gave chase! We made our way following on the heels of the pig thing humanoids deep into the cellar of the house. And we found a tunnel dug in the celler of the house and we were ahead of the curb. We killed three of the pig things after they took out one of our number. 
This session picks up after last week's session here on the blog. 

Our party followed the pig things deep into the tunnel and that's when the back of the make shift tunnel collapsed! 
We had no choice but to go forward! The pig things sent two crossbow bolts our way! We dodged outta of the way and sent several bullets thier way. 
We continued on as burnt oil smells and screams assaulted our ears. We kept going with flash lights lit. 
The roof was supported by timber & weird metal  rapports supporting the Earthen works. And then the group came across an outlet tunnel. And they came face to face with a huge system of gears, pulleys, etc. all being run by the pig things. These monsters were not happy to see the group and they began to give chase especially as the party saw who or what was cooking in the large copper pots below in some of the gas works! 
The party began to run and run swiftly away as more cross bow bolts and spears whistled past thier ears. 
The party noticed that the tunnels were slopping upward and followed the tunnels as sulferous air assaulted thier nostrals. Finally after what seemed like miles they came to the opening on the surface. The red hazed skies were rife with demonic forms that flapped lazily and around the party was a plethora of burnt out wreckage of what once must have been vehicles  of some type at one point. The landscape was a ruin filled with the wrecks of ancient times. Before the party even had time to catch thier breaths they heard the bronze on pavement of the hell horse's hooves. Then the demonic laughter of the hell maidens who were tormenting some poor soul. They sighted the party from the backs of the hell horse (hellhorse from the creature codex here). 

“Eternal Fire” © Chris Kanters, accessed at their deviantArt page here

The party opened up with thier guns towards the hell maidens and did absolutely nothing to the maidens. They laughed at the party and began taking off after the party. We ended here. 

Our DM tonight brought in a deep cut with the hell maidens and the hell horse taken from Bloody Arduin.  
The Darker rpg is easy to convert over the original Arduin rpg material because the Red Rpg system is OSR. 
Darker has some solid bones that pulls deeply from it's OSR system. Darker does away with the PC classes rpg levels. And the Red rpg system has a high value combat system that is fast and reliable. 
The Darker rpg has a fast magic system and takes it's 'P's & 'Q''s from a third generation OSR system. This means that the players can get on with play. This makes the Darker rpg go that much quicker. 

The Darker rpg is not an rpg that tries to get away from it's mature themes and material. Instead it embraces it. 

Deeper OSR Commentary & Review On The New Flesh Rpg By The Red Room

 "Enter the dystopian world of New Flesh, a future-noir roleplaying game where cyberpunk meets biological horror in the neon-drenched streets of Interzone. Set in then near future, when corporate power runs unchecked, this game draws inspiration from the works of William S. Burroughs, David Cronenberg, and other masters of transgressive fiction." 

New Flesh Rpg is a very different animal from it's early incarnation aka Wretched New Flesh rpg. New Flesh strips back the occult and supernatural elements of the rpg while upping the biopunk & corporation elements. New Flesh might as well be a brand new rpg. In someways a better game. 
New Flesh lines far more up with the Darker rpg then it does with the original Wretched New Flesh including the fact that it has a wholly newly fleshed out campaign setting.. 
There are other differents between New Flesh & Wretched New Flesh according to the Red Room website; "Rules

New Flesh uses the Red System instead of the Wretched System. Unlike Wretched New Flesh Second Edition, which was primarily a setting, New Flesh is a standalone, fully-fledged game."

"Not Wretched
The Wretched factions are gone, as well as the the whole concept of Wretched characters."

"Tone and Focus
New Flesh places greater emphasis on Cronenbergian biopunk and body horror than the previous versions."

"Interzone, not Avalidad
The City is now officially named Interzone, marking a change from previous versions where Interzone was merely an outdated term. However, the name Avalidad persists as the term used by native Moroccans."

"Supernatural
New Flesh removes overt supernatural influences; for instance, Hideo Kobayashi is no longer depicted as a demonic entity. Instead, the game emphasizes themes of corporate greed and biotechnological ethical decay. Some alien entities, such as the Machinatores, are retained, maintaining a subtle otherworldly presence. Ritual Magic is no longer available, but it was replaced by Chaos Magic, which makes more sense in the Burroughsian atmosphere of the game."

"Setting Scope
This iteration expands on the world beyond Interzone, providing more detailed descriptions of other countries."

"New Art
The game features updated visuals, including: Cover and back cover art by Ibai Canables, an introductory comic by Kris Villarosa, illustrations of weapons, vehicles, and armour by Rob Necronomicon. It also includes a cool new logo, a page border and new character sheet by Terra Hitzing. Finally, the style of AI illustrations is completely different from the previous book to make it coherent with the human-made art."

"Other changes
New Flesh introduces more plot hooks and an adventure generator, the Psionic rules were revised and the AI in the game setting was updated to keep up with real world changers, among other minor things." "
These changes only scatch the surface of this Bio Noir rpg adventure game. There's more here within the New Flesh Rpg. New Flesh  includes society, technology, culture, monsters, and more. This means that while these adventure elements are familiar to Wretched New Flesh players there's a brand new game within New Flesh.  New Flesh is compariable to the Darker rpg by the Red Room. 

This rpg  has many elements within the Darker rpg. New Flesh includes a wholly streamlined combat rpg system, a new magic system within the Chaos magic system, and much more. The Interzone campaign setting is even more fleshed out campaign setting. But is the New Flesh rpg worth the 15.00 dollar price point?!
In a word, yes! The whole price includes all six hundred pages of a solid rpg with a whole Bio Noir rpg campaign. The New Flesh rpg has everything that the players & DM will need to run a campaign lasting many years. 
The DM could affectly never need another book and run a comple New Flesh rpg campaign for years to come! The Bio Noir campaign has many elements that hit all of the high adventure notes of a Noir campaign but with high bio mechanic technological element. 

Adding in the Darker rpg's underworld and demons  or its supernatural forces a DM could have a whole cloth campaign with many layers of supernatural horror. The New Flesh rpg adds another bio terror layer to such a campaign. The New Flesh rpg is a pleasure to both read and I can't wait to run it!  

Corridors of Terror - Red Room's Darker Rpg Session Report!

  Tonight's Darker Rpg adventure session picks right up from last week here on the blog. Our party of Darker rpg adventurers lost three members in tonight's game as the events of In Wretched Depravity.

  We held our own protecting the Vandervance family from the forces of the supernatural from the horrors of the Beyond. Last week we survived the battle with the imps. This time we were surrounded by pig like humanoids armed with spears, mancatchers, hammers, and short swords. These horrors came through some sorta of gate. Well our sorcerers held the line with a protective circle that they put down on the fly. We opened fire when the pig things tried to open the circle. 

Then all Hell broke loose as they fired cross bows into our party. We opened fire and managed too kill four of these horrors with blessed ammo! The pig things retreated and we followed them into the gate! 
Our party made it into a whirlwind of weirdness of the Beyond! We lost our way and now things are getting very sketchy! 

The Darker rpg is well suited to this sorta of a horror action rpg campaign. The fact is that the Red Room did a killer job with the Darker Rpg geared for a group of players to jump right into the deep end of a campaign. 
Tonight's monsters are from the Beyond right out of the Red Room's Wretched Darkness Bundle.  
Which easily translates over to the Darkness rpg. The monsters were the glue that bonded the players into the game campaign. 
The fact that the Darker rpg is easy to bring other OSR sources makes it a great game to play. Because it serves as a bridge between the Red Room's Red and other old school rpg gaming sources. 

House Of Doom - Red Room's Darker Rpg Session Report!

  We've been doing an investigative game involving The Red Room's Darker rpg. Our party has been approaching the entire In Wretched Depravity rpg adventure tonight. This session picks right up from this session report on the blog. 

A family has been terrorized by dark forces as the supernatural forces are closing in around the family. 
In tonight's game the party began to experience some of the events of In Wretched Depravity.

The violence started with polergiest activity with flying furnature & nasty shadow manifestations. The PC's got smacked with food, fecal material, and ecotoplasm! The PC's started doing research into the house finding out about a murder that happened in the house. 
There's a portal to Hell in the basement of the house! As the PC's found out when diobolical imps began manifesting. These things began to manifest as the damned only to tumble into a pile of imps! 
The imps mocked the PC's and took on one of the investigators one at a time as a means of looking for the weakest link. 
They tried to kidnap one of the PC's down into the Underworld. This didn't happen as one of the PC's had prepared a blasting staff! The imps were not amused! Half of them were banished back to the underworld! 

The second thing we need to talk about is too talk the Darker Rpg for a moment. There are aspects of the Darker Rpg that works very well for a horror rpg without strings attached. First is the fact that the combat is downright lethal. 

 Darker is geared around the ritual magick scene in spades. The fact is that the Red Room did a killer job with the Darker Rpg. The system is deadly and plugs right into the OSR scene with little issue. You can easily adapt your favorite diabolical horror from an OSR source. This is exactly what I did tonight with a classic Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual creature. 

This has allowed me as a DM to bring in monsters from my favorite old school sources. This means that I don't have to keep working at pulling in old school resources. Darker is an excellent game! 

Chapter House Of Doom - Red Room's Darker Rpg Session Report!

 Things turned very dark in tonight's game as the player's PC's were brought into the Legacy House. This foundation is the front for a philophetic foundation that searches the world for archelogical artifacts and historical sites. Not all is as it seems because the PC's are actually battling the occult and supernatural. The problem is that the Dark Forces are winning. 

 The PC's got to the chapter house and almost bought it when they came face to face with a damned soul straight outta of Hell. After the head of the chapter house recieved an ancient talisman from thier far East office in Cairo. The PC's almost didn't make it as the spirit shape shifted into thier greatest fears. Clues were sprinkled throughout the manor to allow the PC's to destroy the talisman and banish the spirit. The PC's then had to call the police and clear the body of the old chapter house head. 
There are however secrets that are hinted about within the chapter house head's diary. The manor holds far more secrets then they know. The player's PC's aren't getting a break as thier thrown into the events of In Wretched Depravity adventure.

 

 The PC's are called into investigate a house that is far more then it seems! The events needed immediate attention and the PC's think that there might be a portal to Hell here! We'll let's talk the Darker Rpg for a moment. This game uses the Red Rpg system and it's quite lethal in combat. I noticed the players trying to avoid confrontation. Also Darker's magick system is far more geared towards ritual magic & that's there's a greater variety of occult casters and such. 

Twisting ThingsTowards the Darker Rpg - OSR Commentary On The Darker Rpg By The Red Room Crew

 Let's pick it up from here with the PC's party of military & civilian investigators done. The PC's are an investigative unit of the US government to determine if the world is being invaded by Dark Forces! Hint it is! 

This of course picks up the charcters involved up too thier eyeballs with the Tempus Fugit cult and it's machinations involving the kidnapping of children. These children are also being offered to a dark and twisted travelling troupe.  Here the underworld's influence is much more pronounced. And we have the Hellish underworld certainly being in more evidence. One thing I've had to do is to give the player's PC's smaller minions to bang on and destoy. Something that was evident from Shadow & son's review of Darker. 

Darker has a far faster PC generation set of rules then some of the other OSR games I've seen. This gives a far smoother version of play. I'm certainly incorporating earlier Wretchedverse rpg adventures into our current campaign. The Beyond & the Underworld don't really controdict each other per say. 

Something Wretched This Way Comes  seems to fit the vibe of Darker very well with it's mature themes plugging right into Darker. 

Beyond the cursed travelling troupe bring a front for Dark Powers there's certainly enough here to drive home of the connection betweeen New York City & Wrethed New Flesh's Avilidad. The themes of high weirdness and deabolical Underworld are not too far removed. I think that the Darker rpg reads as if the X files & the 90's show Millinum had a love child. 

OSR Commentary On The Darker Rpg By The Red Room Crew

 My Red Room Wretched rpg campaign dried up several weeks ago due to scheduling conflicts with two of my players who are long haul truck drivers. That's scheduling conflict has changed & the second thing that's changed is the fact that all of the players are on board. 

The third thing that's changed is that I now have a 'working copy' of the Darker rpg to use at the table top level. The Darker rpg clicks almost all of my my boxes; "Darker is a contemporary mature horror RPG, OSR-compatible, challenging you to confront themes of faith, morality, and the human condition amidst escalating supernatural peril. Face the true nature of Good and Evil, moral erosion, and humanity’s decline, investigate modern-day horrors hidden behind a façade of normalcy and tackle contemporary issues like corporate power, ideological grooming, and the erosion of traditional values."  Darker rpg 'Red rpg system is kinda close to a B/X Dungeons & Dragons that's been expanded. 
The basic themes of Darker is that God is gone & no one sits on Heaven's Throne. Monsters & demons roam the Earth taking victims at will.  Spirits & gods carved out the planes of Heavens into their own planes. The various occult  factions of Earth are carving humanity up like a Christmas turkeys. Here come the PC's as do gooders & anti heroes just as creepy and dangerous as the foes they face. 
In our own Darker rpg campaign we had a local Tempus Fugit cult has been abducting children & offering them to the Machinatores. The cult's cybermancer's have been opening a portal under the direction of the Machinatores.. All of this is taking place in a rundown tenament building in New York.This portal connects both New York City and Avilidad with a fascimile of the building existing in both places because of the portal. This allows travel between the two places. 
The Machinatores are taking the kids for an unknown purpose while showering the cult with high end technology. Within the building are two laboratories within the tenament to try and analize them. 
The Machinatores guard thier portal with Scarri black monsterous asssassins. These assassins are used as terror weapons against the cult's enemies. The Machinatores are breaking down the local space time continuum & reality anchors to allow the Underworld to gain a foot hold. The PC's have been called in by the parents of one of the missing kids because they fear something sinister is happening. 

OSR Campaign Commentary On The Red Room's Rpg Darker

 " Insanity in individuals is something rare - but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule."- Friedrich Nietzsche

So for the last month or so I've been screwing around with the Darker Rpg from the Red Room.  This post Biblical horror game has the powers of Hell seeping into the Earth sinking thier talons into the Earth in modern 2025. Note that Darker is a mature themed game in spades. 
 

Darker presents a world where God is dead or absent completely and isn't coming back anytime soon. This campaign setting world is cross compatible with what I've stated in previous blog entries here. The problem is selling this Biblical horror campaign to the players as an actual viable campaign. The answer of course is the horror film campaign idea. 
The players are the ones that have to hold the line now in the absence of a righteous God. Darker hits the Biblical & the Revelation rpg vibe hard. The Darker Biblical feels like a bold mixture of supernatural & infernal elements in spades.
Sure you can use films such as Legion, Phophecy, and other cultclassics and steal thier plots. 
How about an original campaign idea? It's not quite the end of the Earth but Hell is definitely here and not going away anytime soon. So why not go down in a flame of glory kicking the Devil and his minion's asses back to Hell! 
I think it's that simple to use as a premise for a horror  campaign from the ground up. 
Saving the Earth wouldn't be easy but it could be done. Ask any fan of Supernatural or Buffy which means huge sacrifices on the PC's parts. Could this be used for a long term campaign?
In a word yes I think it could because of the following: 

1. The PC's have personal stake in the outcome of the campaign such as the soul of a loved one. 
2. The core of one of the PC's values is on the line because the world is ending and they don't feel fine. 
3. They watch others walk into the fire and the PC's don't. This trend continues until the PC's actions affect the Earth. 
4. The powers of both God & the Devil could both be monsters. The Darker setting is flexible to allow one to explore these themes.  
5. Cults have been growing in leaps and bounds allowing them to gain both overt and covert power in many countries across the globe. This allows the DM to affect the PC's on a personal level.
6. Biblical threats can hit close to home throwing the status que out the window.Such adventure horror elements  as demonic possession and the like are very nasty. 
7. Straight up destruction of Hell's legions also goes a long way to making the horrors right there and in the PC's face. Use this tactic sparingly. 
8. Horror is subjective and over doing the elements of horror could turn it comedic. 
9. Allow the PC's to have small victories and allow the status que to breath a bit bringing home the gut punches of horror when it appears. 
10. Long term campaigns are possible with horror but it takes a solid group of players who are going to be able to achieve a long term goal. 

The Wretched Rpg could help to act as a campaign anchor to bring PC's into Darker. But this is going to be a balancing act as the Darker game has no real skill system, level system, or as many rpg PC system hooks as the players might expect.

Review & Commentary On The Darker Rpg By The Red Room

 DARKER RPG - RELEASED

"Darker is a contemporary mature horror RPG, OSR-compatible, challenging you to confront themes of faith, morality, and the human condition amidst escalating supernatural peril. Face the true nature of Good and Evil, moral erosion, and humanity’s decline, investigate modern-day horrors hidden behind a façade of normalcy and tackle contemporary issues like corporate power, ideological grooming, and the erosion of traditional values."

Darker is a full on infernal rpg with huge occult overview with the Creator dead. Hellblazer or Spawn could easily be done with Darker as a whole cloth campaign. Darker clocks in a five hundred pages & bridges both Wretched Rpg & other Red Room rpg. This is a mature game & not for kids! 
Darker plays into the Eighties & Nineties classic horror movies  & films. Darker hits the Biblical & the Revelation rpg vibe hard. The Darker Biblical feels like a bold mixture of supernatural & infernal elements in spades. Darker plugs into these elements with gusto. What works is the classless vs the rpg skill system as a whole cloth rpg. Darker rpg takes the Biblical/Revelation's feel to the limit. 
The infernal of Darker is brought into the spotlight! Strap in as Darker takes the PC's for a ride. Because it takes over our comtempory reality & brings it hard into Darker's Biblical reality.
The world is already on the fifth ring of Hell with a clockwork Heaven and an absentee God who happens to be dead. The PC's are there to hold the line against the infernal. This doesn't mean that your PC's are good guys.Can Darker work with the Expanded Wretched Rpg? In a word, the  Darker can work with the Expanded Wretched Rpg system. 

So at it's core Darker is easily adapted into the Expanded Wretched and other OSR rpg systems quite easily even though it doesn't use a level class system or an all encompassing skill system. At it's core it works on two levels. Which means that Darker is a solid Biblical Horror OSR game in spades. 
Darker is a game that bridges the gap between horror & Biblical weirdness quite well.