OSR Commentary on The Gunslinger Rpg Strange Science in The Arizona Territory

 "Gunslinger Roleplaying Game Core Rules

Welcome to the Weird and Wondrous Wild West!

Saddle up, partner, and prepare to embark on an unbridled journey through a science-fantasy adventure, inspired by the yarns of classic western lore and the pulp fiction sagas of the early 20th-century. Gunslinger, the thrilling roleplaying game, is here to send you on a white-knuckle escapade, galloping through the untamed frontiers of the Arizona territory in the era of the Wild West."

 Gunslinger rpg has been on my hard drive since 2023 by Thomas Denmark & it dives into the deep end of the Pulp Strange Science. How?! Because the hills of Arizona in Gunslinger are rife with tons of OSR tunnels and high weirdness! From aliens to American Indian giants hunting PC's, villages, towns, and more. 

So basically this is a Weird Western rpg with OSR leaning that goes heavy into the Old Western vibe. The character classes lean heavily into Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert E. Howard, and other Pulp writers  Old Western tales. And the PC's character classes reflect this: 

• Brave
• Doctor
• Engineer
• Gunslinger
• Huckster
• Muckraker
• Arizona Ranger
• Scout
• Cavalryman
• Greenhorn (0 Level)

These classes are perfectly suited to use with a 'weird west' style OSR adventure campaign. These are a solid juxtaposition to the Warriors of the Red Planet rpg   because mixing the two games gives a solid OSR campaign. This means that the action is located right in the Old West campaign setting. 
These adventure elements are straight outta of the ordinary and allow the DM to take an Old West campaign and inject the old school weirdness factor right in. The Gunslinger rpg have the monsters & horrors baked right in. 
So a DM can easily do  a 'The Valley of Gwangi' style OSR campaign where an isolated 'Lost World' adventure is filled to the brim with lots of old school Gygaxian style horrors. And this is the perfect place to put a Barsoomian or ancient Martian style dimensional gate. And here's where your Gunslinger rpg PC's could end up on Warriors of the Red Planet rpg Mars. 
So this expands the Night Owl Workshop style campaign range with even more adventure  possibilities. There are a ton of options that a DM can bring his or her players with this combination of games. 

Review & Commentary on Monastic Knights By Thomas Denmark From Night Owl Workshop For your Old School Campaigns

 "Three unique character classes designed to fill the role between Clerics and Paladins in your favorite OSR roleplaying game campaign.

The monastic knights come in three general types:

Knights of Sanctity (Sanctifiers) are balanced between being warriors and healers.
Knights of Ardor (Ardents) are compassionate healers and only fight as necessary.
Knights of Vindication (Vindicators) are formidable warriors with a few spells.

Monastic Knights are designed to work with any OSR style RPG that is based on the original fantasy roleplaying game.

This PDF includes:

• 3 Monastic Knight Character Classes
• A "White Box" addendum
• Fully illustrated Character Sheets
• Sample maps of Monasteries "
  
  Right so this isn't so much a review as a sorta of article on why  Monastic Knights exist. As is the fact that the Monastic Knights does exist! These knightly orders exist to provide the DM a character class that bridges the gap between the cleric & the fighter class asthetic. And they do it very well! The  Monastic Knights are only written within nineteen pages of very tight descriptions & classes. These knightly orders are up to Night Owl Workshop's usual standards. 
  Knights of Sanctity (Sanctifiers) are good balance between the healer roles that we see in clerics & the kick ass for good types that we've seen before. The difference here is the fact that the Knights of Sanctity (Sanctifiers) bring a bit more of the martial to the table top. Yes they are servants of good but no the will murder you in the name of said good in the blink of an eye. 
  Knights of Ardor (Ardents) are the next up and here is more healer then martial warrior but that doesn't mean that they won't fight. It seemly means that they're reluctant too. They remind me of many army veterans that I've played with. 
  When you need martial & millitary knightly orders the Knights of Vindication (Vindicators) is the route to go. These guys go into dungeons & root out evil. They put the monsters to the torch & don't look back untill the gods sort it out. 
  
   Monastic Knights By Thomas Denmark From Night Owl Workshop isn't going to put your nose out of joint instead it's going to act as breidge gap between clerics & paladins. Knights act as hand of both the royals & gods with the common folks. All in All I believe that  Monastic Knights By Thomas Denmark From Night Owl Workshop is a good buy! 
  
  
   Monastic Knights By Thomas Denmark From Night Owl Workshop Is Available Right Here 
  

Silence of Chaos & Anarchy - The Stormbringer Rpg Memories

 Last night I was checking out Ebay and looking in on one of my all time favorite Rpg's and that's Stormbringer. Holy crow the cost of the Chaosium Stormbringer has become like gold on Ebay. And it's been a very long time since I wrote anything on the Chaosiums's Stormbringer rpg. Why now? We used to have our Stormbringer rpg sessions in the Summer. So the hot weather always reminds me of chucking dice and demons. 

Over on Rpggeek there was a comment by Barhara Kipling that put the first edition Stormbringer rpg box set into context for the table top;"Great game in its day, though admittedly it makes demons much more important than they ever were in the Elric stories (Note: 5th edition removed this heavy reliance on demons to better reflect the stories). However, we still used the rules for demons, and Stormbringer's early editions gave us many years of enjoyable campaigning. We still play occasionally when we want a break from the RPG du jour." "As a side note, we used these early editions of Stormbringer for adventures in Fred Saberhagen's "Empire of the East" setting before it got its own dedicated rulebook. Lots of fun there!"

So what is it about Stormbringer that seems to draw in so many of us back to her?! The fact is that Stormbringer isn't Dungeons & Dragons is precisely why so many D&D players back in the day seemed to get really into Stormbringer. Thomas Denmark hits it on the head on his RpgGeek Stormbringer comments;"Well written. One of the best fantasy roleplaying games ever designed, and a near perfect translation of the novels to a game. All my nostalgia is with 1st edition, but I have to admit 4th is probably the best as it fixes a few issues like balance and magic" 

We got deeply involved in White Dwarf's The Mad Cap Laughs and after the mini campaign was over we had to move on deeper into the Young Kingdoms. How deep we weren't prepared for. We were moved back in time to play in the fields of the Young Kingdom much earlier in time. 

Commentary On Mechanized Men of Mars By Thomas Denmark From Night Owl Workshop For the Warriors of the Red Planet Rpg & Other OSR Science Fantasy Rpg's

 'Helium is in peril! An army of mechanized men have assembled near Helium. The brave warriors of Helium have already faced off against them, but lost badly! '

 'It is said they are controlled by a mad man, a genius who is half-machine named K’Ral Diss. He seeks to enslave the red men of Barsoom, and then move on to conquer the rest of the planet.' 

Mechanized Men of Mars By Thomas Denmark is a 'pay what you want' adventure for the Warriors of the Red Planet rpg that's been on my radar for sometime. The adventure is both dungeon crawl & city run. And it concerns the kidnapping of a princess of Helium. Those familar with Edgar Rice Burroughs Mars books already know this routine. The PC's are called into the Jaddack of Helium to save the princess from the mad scientist villain. And its a pretty open ended adventure. And yes, it can be used with other OSR Science Fantasy Rpg's. 
Since its only clocks in at thirty two pages Mechanized Men of Mars doesn't over stay its OSR welcome. And its very open ended so the DM can adapt it to their own campaign world's but it really belongs on Barsoom or a Barsoom type of world. 
So to challange my current players I've decided to make the princess a well rounded NPC unto herself and I'm doing this by using the OSR  space noble to help define her traits. 

Mars or Barsoom in Mechanized Men of Mars By Thomas Denmark is a violent, dangerous, and even a brooding when we find ourselves in the middle of on going civil upheavel. This period of Martain history is full of intrique, danger, and complex plots involving multiple Martian houses. Mechanized Men of Mars By Thomas Denmark does use this approach but could if the DM was so enclined. Mechanized Men of Mars isn't a complex adventure, but its one that requires a certain combination of players willing to get into the deep end of Martian danger, dungeon crawling, and Pulpy danger. 

I could easily see using Mechanized Men of Mars By Thomas Denmark  with Stars Without Number, or the White Star rpg. The fact is that its open endedness makes it particularly easy to adapt as the DM sees fit. 
Is there anything new here?!No, it uses the Pulp Science Fantasy conciets easily and quite readily. There's a feeling of confidence with Mechanized Men of Mars By Thomas Denmark because this adventure uses many of the usual tropes, Pulpy adventure elements, and familar adventure set pieces. This isn't a bad thing, because Mechanized Men of Mars By Thomas Denmark  is an adventure I could see using more then once. 

Review & Commentary The Elf OSR Class by Thomas Denmark From Night Owl Workshop For Your OSR Or Old School Campaigns

 "The original Elf is a bit of a strange character. On one adventure it is a Fighter on another it is a Magic-User, but it can't be both at the same time. It is awkward and somewhat unwieldy when running an original edition game. How can we make an alternate version that also remains true to the integrity of the system? The core idea is you have a character with good fighting ability and some magic ability." 

What if the elf was a full time fighting-man and magic-user? With this in mind we can give the Elf attacks and saves like a fighter, and spells like a magic-user full time. Carefully balanced with the other classes." 

Elf OSR Class by Thomas Denmark is a call back to the early days of OD&D & B/X Dungeons & Dragons. This is class as race or race as class in both directions the Elf OSR fills a very specific need & that is one of the Elf OSR being a sort of old school tool kit character. It has elements of the fighter & the magic user. But the Elf OSR class  in effect being its own fulcurm for old school campaigns. Because the Elf OSR class takes the old elf & spins it into  a character with good fighting ability and some magic ability.

The OSR Elf is perfectly suitable for OD&D, B/X & Advanced Dungeons & Dungeons first edition. Why?! Because it fills a role in a party of adventurers in a way that the players of those systems will find familiar. The elf is an adventurer's class and perfect for exploration, some military activities, and has the potential for a bit of magic. The fact is that sometimes a party needs the edge of a wizard with the martial edge of a fighter. The OSR Elf provides for those needs in spades. The package here is up to Thomas Denmark & Night Owl Workshop's usual standards. The Elf OSR Class is perfect for the DM who has a veteran D&D player who wants to play a character class that is both important & familiar. 

 The Elf OSR Class by Thomas Denmark From Night Owl Workshop Is Available Here. 

Review & Commentary on Monastic Knights By Thomas Denmark From Night Owl Workshop For your Old School Campaigns

 "Three unique character classes designed to fill the role between Clerics and Paladins in your favorite OSR roleplaying game campaign.

The monastic knights come in three general types:

Knights of Sanctity (Sanctifiers) are balanced between being warriors and healers.
Knights of Ardor (Ardents) are compassionate healers and only fight as necessary.
Knights of Vindication (Vindicators) are formidable warriors with a few spells.

Monastic Knights are designed to work with any OSR style RPG that is based on the original fantasy roleplaying game.

This PDF includes:

• 3 Monastic Knight Character Classes
• A "White Box" addendum
• Fully illustrated Character Sheets
• Sample maps of Monasteries "
  
  Right so this isn't so much a review as a sorta of article on why  Monastic Knights exist. As is the fact that the Monastic Knights does exist! These knightly orders exist to provide the DM a character class that bridges the gap between the cleric & the fighter class asthetic. And they do it very well! The  Monastic Knights are only written within nineteen pages of very tight descriptions & classes. These knightly orders are up to Night Owl Workshop's usual standards. 
  Knights of Sanctity (Sanctifiers) are good balance between the healer roles that we see in clerics & the kick ass for good types that we've seen before. The difference here is the fact that the Knights of Sanctity (Sanctifiers) bring a bit more of the martial to the table top. Yes they are servants of good but no the will murder you in the name of said good in the blink of an eye. 
  Knights of Ardor (Ardents) are the next up and here is more healer then martial warrior but that doesn't mean that they won't fight. It seemly means that they're reluctant too. They remind me of many army veterans that I've played with. 
  When you need martial & millitary knightly orders the Knights of Vindication (Vindicators) is the route to go. These guys go into dungeons & root out evil. They put the monsters to the torch & don't look back untill the gods sort it out. 
  
   Monastic Knights By Thomas Denmark From Night Owl Workshop isn't going to put your nose out of joint instead it's going to act as breidge gap between clerics & paladins. Knights act as hand of both the royals & gods with the common folks. All in All I believe that  Monastic Knights By Thomas Denmark From Night Owl Workshop is a good buy! 
  
  
   Monastic Knights By Thomas Denmark From Night Owl Workshop Is Available Right Here