The December Deceiver - Santa Claus For The Wretched Darkness Rpg & The Wretched rpg

 This is a fantastic and deeply unsettling idea. Wretched Darkness is an OSR horror game focused on anti-heroes, grim outcomes, and the psychological effects of the supernatural.

For Santa Claus to exist in the Wretchedverse, he must be a terrifying, ambiguous, and immensely powerful entity. He won't be a jolly figure, but rather a primordial, ancient being whose power is tied to the collective belief (and fear) of humanity, and whose 'gifts' often come with a horrifying price.

Here is the NPC stat block for "Krampus' Father" (The Red-Suited Entity, The December Deliverer) for the Wretched Darkness RPG.

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The December Deliverer (Santa Claus)

A monstrous entity of immense power, tied to the psychic energy of childhood innocence and greed. It serves a dark, cold cosmic purpose.

Attribute	Score	Notes
Level/Tier	Entity (Immortal/Unique)	Treat as a Rank 10+ foe.
Hit Points (HP)	200 (Supernatural Regeneration)	Takes half damage from all but Holy/Cold Iron attacks.
Armor Class (AC)	18 (Thick Hide/Magic)	The thick, red, blood-stained velvet offers little, but the ancient magics do.
Movement	30 ft. (Ground), Flight (90 ft., Sleigh), Teleport (Self-only)
Attack Bonus (Melee)	+15
Attack Bonus (Ranged)	+12

Ability Scores

Ability	Score	Modifier (d20 check)
Strength (STR)	20	+5
Dexterity (DEX)	14	+2
Constitution (CON)	22	+6
Intelligence (INT)	18	+4
Wisdom (WIS)	24	+7
Charisma (CHA)	20	+5

Combat & Attacks

Primary Melee: The Holly Staff

• Attack Bonus: +15

• Damage: $3d8 + 5$ Bludgeoning / Cold Damage

• Effect: On a successful hit, the victim must pass a DC 18 CON Save or be covered in a thin, crystalline rime of ice and be Slowed for $1d4$ rounds (half speed, -2 AC/Attack).

Ranged Attack: Lump of Perpetual Coal

• Attack Bonus: +12

• Damage: 2d6 Fire Damage + Psychological Strain

• Effect: Upon being struck, the victim must pass a DC 15 SANITY Check. Failure results in the target gaining 1d4 Sanity Loss (the knowledge of their deep moral failings made manifest). This coal burns eternally, never consuming itself.

Supernatural Ability: The Gift (Action)

The Deliverer reaches into his sack (which smells of freezing ash and formaldehyde) and pulls out an item specifically tailored to the victim.

• The item is usually the worst possible outcome of a character's deep, selfish desire or a supernaturally grotesque version of a childhood toy.

• Example Effect: A PC who secretly desires wealth may receive a small, pulsating sack containing $1d10$ severed fingers, each adorned with a gold ring. The PC must pass a DC 20 SANITY Check or suffer $2d6$ Sanity Loss and be Paralyzed by cosmic horror for 1 round.

Supernatural Traits & Immunities

• Knows if You've Been Bad (Constant): The Deliverer has perfect, supernatural knowledge of every living creature's most heinous act or darkest secret. Any attempt to Lie or Deceive him requires a DC 25 Charisma Check. Failure on this check grants him a free attack against the PC.

• The Naughty List (Weakness): Any character who can prove they have never intentionally wronged a child (living or dead) gains Advantage on all Saving Throws against The Deliverer's powers.

• Immunity: Immune to all Cold, Charm, Fear, and attempts to mentally influence him.

• Chimney Transit (Teleport): Can teleport into any structure that contains an inactive fireplace, or any vent, pipe, or opening large enough for a newborn to pass through.

Sanity Threat (The True Horror)

Santa Claus is a profound threat to sanity in the Wretchedverse.

• Presence Sanity Loss: Any character who witnesses The December Deliverer (his true form, not just a disguise) must make a DC 15 SANITY Check or lose $1d4$ Sanity.

• The Workshop (Environmental): Anyone who enters The Deliverer's domain (often referred to as the "North Pole") must make a DC 18 SANITY Check every hour or lose 1d6 Sanity. The sight of the endless, tormented little creatures (Elves/Fae slaves) toiling in the cold is often enough to break weak minds.

Roleplaying Notes

• Mannerisms: Speaks in a deep, booming voice that sounds like grinding ice and breaking bone, but uses unsettlingly cheerful words. Always laughs, but the laugh is a low, sickening Ho-ho-ho that seems to drain the light from the room.

• Motivation: Unknown. It seems to enjoy the ritual of the night, the consumption of belief, and the punishment of those who abuse the concept of innocence.

• Bait: Always seeks out those with a hidden moral flaw, using their greed and past sins as the fuel for its gifts.

Review & Commentary On Together, To The Beyond By Mathew Tomas for The Wretched Rpg

 "This supplement is a quick-start toolkit for running an alien invasion game using the Wretchedverse offerings from The Red Room. To play, you’ll need The Wretched RPG and Agents of W.R.E.T.C.H. Inspired by the 1980s television series V (and its short-lived 2009 reboot), the film They Live, and the cosmic horror of H.P. Lovecraft, this adventure introduces the Beyonders— a twisted alien race mutated by their exposure to The Beyond. Because of their exposure, they have become an insatiable, all-consuming threat to humanity. Only a band of wretched bastards and scoundrels can stand in the way of their sinister machinations (18 pages)."

  

 Together, To The Beyond By  Mathew Tomas For The Wretched Rpg is an adventure supplement with deep Eighties roots. This supplement is a  homage to the Eighties cultclassic TV movie and mini series 'V' about alien invasion. Mathew Tomas goes a great job of weaving the Wretched rpg's Beyond and the thematic undercurrents of the infamous miniseries together into a campaign add on. The Beyonders are an alien race from an interstellar Hell. All of this is given in an eighteen pages with a nice font, layout, and solid take on the subject. 
Together, to The Beyond presents an essential tool kit to add to your own Wretched rpg's. The author suggests using the Beyonders in Agents of  W.R.E.T.C.H.but this supplement also works Wretched Darkness or second edition Wretched New Flesh as well. 

Together to the Beyond's Beyonders might be well known to the supernatural races. These aliens could have well have created the wastelands of Wretched Apocalypse . The Beyonders are alien locaust that move from world to world plundering the planetary resources. 
These aliens are incredibly deadly especially with the Lovecraftian twist! The Beyonders are incredibly evil. There's no redeeming them except for the occasional exception. 

These aliens are highly deranged and they are out promoting thier agenda for the Earth. This may not be main Wretched Earth but an alternative timeline. 
These alternative timelines intersect occasionally the Wretched Earth. These are the UFOs's of the Wretched Earth and occasionally take a 'sample' or two of the Earthlings. These Beyonders are perfect menaces for an Agents of Wretch, Wretched Darkness, and Wretched New Flesh. 

Review & Commentary On Double Feature This Old House & Sweet Sernade For The Wretched Rpg or The Red Rpg

 "This Double Feature includes two horror adventures easily used without any preparation if you mean to run them in Wretched Darkness, Darker RPG or any other contemporary horror game. With some adaptation you can run them in Wretched Époque, Gothic or other games set in the not-so-distant past (49 pages)"

Double Feature is a very exploitable beast of a set of horror adventures! What the Hell I'm I talking about here?! Well right out of the gate 'The Old House' is both an adventure and a tool kit for creating haunted house horror adventures. The adventure begs player's PC's to explore this haunted manor or mansion. Why? Because you're trapped there. 
There's got to be a way out right?! Yes and no, right out of the gate this adventure is more and less then it seems because through a series of random tables, encounters, etc. the DM builts a random haunted location. And this place wants to eat the PC's souls if it can! There are tons of tools to get the players on board. 
And it goes down hill from there. For the PC's of a Wretched rpg or Darker this isn't anything new because your folks are anti heroes at the best of times. Add in a family treasure or rumor of treasure and your ready to go! 
The Old House is well written and provides a good solid layout, easy to read fonts, and serveral keyed in adventure locations with 'The Old House'. This bleeds into the next adventure 'A Sweet Sernade' is a full on vampire centric adventure. According to the introduction; "This scenario plunges player characters into a blood-drinking, mystery, and intrigue set against the backdrop of a modern metropolis. While vampiric society plays a central role, the material adapts easily to any modern horror setting or system." A Sweet Sernade is begging for an intrigue and mystery element which then shifts into a full blown action adventure. The gang aspect and factional elements within this adventure are fully embraced for OSR play. 
And these two adventures are exploitative for two reasons, one they both pull the PC's into them. And these adventure can turn on a dime on the player's PC's. If the player's are stupid then they die end of story. 
Here's the skinny, Double Feature This Old House & Sweet Sernade are perfectly suited for modern OSR campaign play especially for The Wretched Darkness second edition setting. 

These two adventures plug deeply into themes that the Wretched Darkness second edition campaign setting established. Could Double Feature work for the Darker rpg?! Absolutely it could with little modification. 
These adventures scream Wretched Darkness second edition to me in spades. They plug into the Beyond easily and hit the factional high notes established within the vampiric world of the Wretched rpg. 

Could Double Feature work for the Gothic rpg?! Yes easily and then some because these two rpg adventure plug into the undercoat of the Gothic rpg games themes. 
And they could easily plug into  Wretched Époque but it might take some modification on the DM's part. 
The first thing I would do is get rid of the cell phone and internet capabilities of the modern era. Drop in the fact that the party is in for a rough ride with Double Feature and then exploit the Hell outta of the player's PC's. Double Feature is a well done set of book ends of an experienced or novice group of  Red Room players. 

First Impressions of Wretched Space Second Edition By The Red Room For The Wretched Rpg

 "In the sordid underbelly of the galaxy, only the crafty and callous survive. Wretched Space is an old-school RPG where you don’t play as heroes on a noble crusade, but rather as roguish anti-heroes just looking to get by in a harsh universe. You aren’t out to save the world – you’re out to save your own skin. And maybe make some credits along the way if opportunity knocks. This game revels in greyness of morality, where doing the right thing takes a backseat to doing what needs to be done. Idealism is a luxury you can’t afford out here."

Wretched Space Second Edition has gone from being  full rpg to being a full rpg intergalatic setting. The material here has expanded into five hundred pages of blown out galaxy spanning rpg setting now with a fully attached OSR adventure. The PC's being members of the Wretched Legion & an overedging concept of vast intergalatic scumminess and weirdness to the whole Wretched affair. 
Now with the new Jack Kirby homage cover and the concept of the Wretched Legion being; " the players as members of the Wretched Legion, a special corps of the Galactic Federation law enforcement made up of pardoned criminals given an old, battered starship and second-rate weaponry, and deployed to enforce the law on backwater worlds. " Everything within Wretched Space Edition is build up around this concept and they do a great job of it. 
This is a great setting if your A. Looking for a space opera with some of the concepts of the Wretchedverse. B. You want a space opera with a sleazy underbelly to it and yet has room for you to add in your own home grown touches to the underworld & environs. 
There are ton of alien races, adventure generators, setting generators, places to go, things to do, advesaries, factions, and much more. Wretched Space Second edition really goes all out to add  in brand new material the Wretched Rpg. And this edition takes this on with lots of brand new ideas from psionics,magic, ritual material and more. Wretched Space Second edition is a chunky beast of a setting spanning tons of areas where the PC's can easily get themselves in way, way, over thier collective heads. The new layout is easy on the eyes, the material here is solidly done, and there's tons of opportunities for the setting to easily be overlaid into your existing Wretched Rpg campagins. 
You are not playing the good guys in Wretched Space Second Edition instead your playing the anti hero PC's treking across the universe and getting into one mayhap after another. Believe me the factions here are playing for keeps and they want to do your character in as fast as possible. The Wretched Legion isn't well liked in the galaxy and the material here proves that out in spades. 
Please remember that your going to need the Wretched rpg to use Wretched Space Second edition because this supplement is a setting book and not a complete game! 

So is it worth the Expanded second edition of Wretched Space?! In a word, yes the material is extremely expansive and there's a brand new adventure included. Which really highlights the plusses of the Wretched Legion. The factions here are far more out for blood then they've been in the past. There's also a sense that the material here is hinting at future adventures in the setting of Wretched Space and I'm down for that.

Review & Commentary On Wretched Chanbara! By Olivier Scherschel, & Chris Cotgrove For The Wretched Rpg

 Wretched Chanbara! is a fully-realized game setting built on the robust foundations of the Wretched system, complete with a succinct yet rich world history and a solid background that can be used for both short scenarios and extensive campaigns. The heart of Wretched Chanbara! lies in its deep immersion into the atmosphere of classic Japanese cinema, spanning from the 1950s to the late 1970s but the myths and legends come true.


Wretched Chanbara! is a massive sprawling OSR setting by Olivier Scherschel, & Chris Cotgrove. This book clocks in at four hundred & eighteen pages of very well written rpg based on classic Japanese Samurai & Japanese horror films. What I'm talking about is classic cinema that spans from the 1950's through the late 1970's. If your expecting Legends of the Five Rings or other classic old school Japanese style historical rpg's this isn't it. 

Wretched Chanbara! takes full advantage of the Wretched rpg & has a completely cinematic take on Feudal Japan. This supplement includes are setting detail, character types and setting appropriate magic, gods and monsters. All of this is filtered through the lens of the Wretched Rpg. Wretched Chanbara! is well written has some great layout, really good A.I. artwork, and easy to read fonts within it! 
This setting is a spawling setting that pulls the PC's into it and adapts the PC's too it. There are ninja clans, royal families, evil chamblins, minor clans, and much more with haunted forrests as well as other locations where the supernatural overlaps with the mortal realm. PC's are drawn into this setting with the fact that thier playing the not so good guys in a Cinematic Japanese. 

Wretched Chanbara! is not a minor setting in any sense of the word. This is a massive setting with everything you need to add Wretched Chanbara! as a complete setting into your games. Gods, culture, mythology, religion, PC's, magic, and more all enclosed with the Wretched rpg system. So this is an easy rpg setting to add too your own OSR game & this is a very much a rich tapestry to  play against. 
The PC's are the fuel to get the adventures off to a flying campaign. Wretched Chanbara! is completely created for long term campaign play. The value of Wretched Chanbara! is the fact that there's so much material for play. 
There's some solid foundations within Wretched Chanbara! for both a one shot or a  complete campaign run. There's enough material here to keep a campaign going for years to come! I highly recommend Wretched Chanbara! for old school cinematic Japanese OSR play. 

OSR Review & Application of Supermax By Michael L Straus For The Wretched Rpg & It's Deriative Wretchedverse RPG

 "In this product we introduce the idea of three Supermax prisons that exist in the world of Wretched Darkness, Conspiracies and Vigilantes and how each one is specifically designed to hold these threats. For your agents trying to unravel the mysteries of Wretched Conspiracies, we present the Area 52 Supermax, deep in the Nevada desert. For those investigators of all things Wretched Darkness, we have cells set aside in Area 52 and Alcatraz just for vampires, werewolves and ghosts. And as for the super villains, we have the Alcatraz Supermax and the mysterious off shore location known only as The Deep."

"Since we are exposing secrets, we also at last reveal the master plan of Edge and explain what’s up with all those sightings of Edge. And we get some answers to some other questions as well from Tag. If you do the crime, be ready to do the time at the Wretched Supermax" 

 Supermax By Michael L Straus For The Wretched Rpg covers a wide variety of Wretchedverse rpg's including Wretched Darkness, Wretched Conspiracies, and of course Wretched Vigilantes. Supermax is also available at 

@biggeekemporium

,

@GiantSlayerRPGs

and

@Luludotcom

coming up. The supplement clocks in at seventy seven pages of really interesting and deep dive plot information the Supermax prisons. The idea here is to prove the players and the DM with engaging adventure plot lines and 'legacy NPC's' to challenge your players. And this is spelled out in the Supermax introduction: "In this product we introduce the idea of three Supermax prisons that exist in the world of Wretched Darkness, Conspiracies and Vigilantes and how each one is specifically designed to hold these threats." We get tons of details on the Supermaxes including day to day operations, security, set up, adventure opportunities and more. And lots and lots of NPC's. We also get the legacy and history of the Supermaxes going back to the super prison's establishment back in the Sixties. That legacy includes the fate of the Supermaxes in present day and the future. 
The layout, fonts, and overall design along with the writing on Supermax is well done and easy on the eyes. There's a ton of NPC's that get thier due in this supplement with lots of details, powers, background, and more. This includes lots of details to hook into the Expanded Wretched Rpg coming up. 

There's lots and lots of links into Agents of  W.R.E.T.C.H. as well giving the DM even more. This means that Supermax slots into Wretched Darkness second edition, Wretched Conspiracy, and Wretched Vigilantes easily. A word of caution the NPC's are far worse then the PC's of your campaigns by a country mile and most pose more then a passing threat to your player's PC's. There's even ins and hooks for Welcome to Saint Cloud a really well done David Lynch inspired campaign setting. Supermax brings lots of 'steak and patatoes' NPC's to the table for your Wretched Rpg games. And this makes Supermax a super useful addition to the Wretchedverse rpg. And yes it's worth the five dollar asking price. A great little game supplement with the potential for years of play in the Wretchedverse campaign worlds.

Quick Impressions of Agents of W.R.E.T.C.H. Rpg Setting Second Edition Book By The Red Room

 " Agents of WRETCH - Second Edition RELEASED. This second edition takes the concept of the original sourcebook and transforms it into an essential Wretched setting compendium. This edition not only preserves the original content, serving as a comprehensive toolbox for orchestrating a light-hearted spy game reminiscent of TV classics like The Avengers, Danger Man, and The Saint, but it also ventures into more serious territory. Available now at the Red Room store, Giant Slayer and Big Geek Emporium.

https://moordereht.com/.../agents-of-w-r-e-t-c-h-second..."

Agents of W.R.E.T.C.H. Rpg Setting Second Edition Book By The Red Room came out about two days ago. And I'm way behind on my Red Room reviews and such. But Agents of W.R.E.T.C.H. Second Edition is one that I've been personally waiting for to hit the market place. Why?! Because I've run the first edition of this rpg supplement as a full on campaign. This book is very different from the first edition in every sense of the word. First of all this is an excellent spy & super spy setting ala early Sixties James Bond, Man from U.N.C.L.E., Our Man Flint, etc. Except it's not?! What do I mean by this? Well the fact is that in one hundred and ninety one pages. Agents of W.R.E.T.C.H. second edition brings new archtypes, backgrounds, PC options, and more to the table top. Agents of W.R.E.T.C.H. brings new factions, enemies, updates existing ones, and generally thrusts the PC's into the world of a Cold War spy battle ground that never existed. And it does this by laying down the world of this shadow war where your PC's are right in the middle of it.

Agents of W.R.E.T.C.H. is well written, the layout is clean, most of artwork is A.I. but it's well done A.I. artwork. And the text is readable and so overall Agents of W.R.E.T.C.H. is a nicely put together package. This is a world where a futuristic Cold War that never existed rages on and this could be the past or twenty minutes into the future of the Red Room's Wretched New Flesh Postcards from Aviladad second edition. 
What the Red Room has done with  Agents of W.R.E.T.C.H. is to bring home a brand new setting book that can be slid in the back door of other Wretched rpg campaign worlds. And this adds whole cloth new material to existing Wretched Rpg campaigns. Secret agents can easily vs the supernatural and they don't have to be limp handed about handing out a beat down to the forces of darkness. You see your not playing a straight arrow spy here. Your playing a down and dirty super spy whose willing to use the tools of the trade to keep the James Bond villain from wiping out the world. 
  Agents of W.R.E.T.C.H. presents a solid alternative for running super spies in the world of a Cold War going very wrong. And I personally think that Agents of W.R.E.T.C.H. is another great campaign setting book for the Wretched Rpg

OSR Review & Commentary On Henchmen Sing the Blues By Michael L Staus For Wretched Vigilantes Campaign Settting For The Wretched Rpg

 " Bad guys always lose, heroes never win, and Henchmen? Henchmen sing the blues. Explore the past, present and future of Hammettville and discover the entire secret history of the Wretched Vigilantes. Featuring five new adventures, dozens of new and revised NPCs, new organizations, four new songs by Elvis Presley and the return of the Dyslexic Duo. Everything you think you know about Hammettville and the Warden Foundation is a lie, find out the truth and discover why Henchmen Sing the Blues (234 pages)." 

 

Henchmen Sing the Blues By Michael L Staus ends the trilogy that started with Wretched Vigilantes then went to Bad Guys Never Win and ends with Henchmen Sing The Blues. This book adds so much to the Wretched Vigilantes Hammetville campaign setting from new NPC's, factions, advesaries, expanded campaign setting info, and expanded timeline which takes into account the future of 2049. And it's this timeline that runs from the Eighties to 2049 that is central to the heart of Hammetville as a campaign scene. 
Much like many of the Lamentations of the Flame Princess rpg adventures the Wretched Rpg has improved by it's setting books, adventures, and supplement books. And Henchmen Sing The Blues is no exception because it brings down a boat load of new material. The artwork is A.I artwork but it most certainly fits the material in spades. And if your into super hero rpg's then Wretched Vigilantes fits that sweet spot between The Boys And the comic book series Marshal Law. The material here is gritty, dark, and funny in a weird sorta of way. Hammetville is changing and not always for the better. The heroes have gone bad and the PC's have to take them down in Wretched Vigilantes and the whys, wherefores, etc. that were talked about within Bad Guys Never Win get's even more heinous. As the lies start to drop away one by one. 

And this goes right back into the fact that the major NPC's,villains, super spies, etc. of  Bad Guys Never Win get thier due within Henchmen Sing The Blues. The adventures revolve around the exposure of the lies of the Warden foundation. We get some solid tie ins to Aviladad from Wretched New Flesh second edition. And the whole scene of supers changes as the PC's are put in the middle of a great campaign that has the potential for long haul campaigning. Seriously these book brim with possibilities. ML Straus has done a great job presenting a very troubled world of super humans. 

All of this goes deeply back into material presented with Wretched Vigilantes and there are lots of call backs through out Henchmen Sing The Blues. This maybe one of the best books that we've seen to come out of the Red Room. The layout is well done, the writing is on point, and these are fun books with some good plays on the stereotypes we've come to expect from super heroes and the genre. There are plenty of tie ins for much darker material from The Red Room. Adventure elements such as the Beyond are lurking in the background and there's lots of room for horror, supernatural, or other Red Room material. All in all I'm pretty satisfied with Henchmen Sing The Blues and hope the author continues the series. This is a very good Red Room and Wretched rpg setting and hope to see more material set within this universe.