Under The Irradiated Skies of The Gamma Turquoise: Santa Fe Starport From Kort'thalis Publishing - A Review & Commentary

 So many months ago I agreed to do a review & commentary about Gamma Turquoise: Santa Fe Starport from Kort'thalis Publishing  aka Venger As'Nas Satanis. 
Many months ago I supported the kickstarter on this blog & was really excited to see Gamma Turquoise: Santa Fe Starport hit the wild. But here's the thing, go into this understanding that this is a parody of Gamma World's Albuquerque Star Port adventure sort of. What Gamma Turquoise: Santa Fe Starport really is a post apocalyptic/ sci fi pop culture parody adventure for both Crimson Dragon Slayer & Alpha Blue. 

This is a product with an adult warning on it and it means it. There's sex based factions, horrid tentacle monsters in the background, erotic low humor jokes that are not really necessary, all of the things that you expect to find in a Venger Satanis product.


But despite itself this is a really useful product if your into old school apocalyptic gaming. We'll get into why down below but as Rpg Pundit said a little Venger goes a long way. This isn't anyplace near Gamma World first or second edition levels of quality but this book isn't meant to in any way shape or form do that. Instead this is a third tier OSR product intended for post apocalyptic sci fi & fantasy. It is meant to create a working star port/mini adventure location for any post apocalyptic or sci fi based campaigns. It leans heavily toward those systems but there's enough levy way for a DM to really adapt it to their own needs. The layout is clean, crisp, and up to Monkey Blood Design's standards with lots of well done cartography and weirdness thrown in. Do I think you should get Gamma Turquoise: Santa Fe Starport  in a word yes. But now I'm going to tell you why!
This is a South Western flavored star port with lots of interesting NPC's, mutants, random tables, and more. And I think it would make an excellent post apocalyptic domain for your PC's to control aka I think that your PC's should take their star ship or post apocalyptic army and blow the living crap out of it!
Time & again throughout post apocalyptic games you see the PC's struggle to make ends meet, adventure through contaminated ruins, face down mutant horrors that would make H.P. Lovecraft have the dry heaves. All for what another day in the irradiated sun? With Gamma Turquoise: Santa Fe Starport 
everything is laid out for the DM to have the PC's carve out their own pound of irradiated & mutated flesh in the desert. There are a ton of random tables of maps, relics, and more all waiting to snare the PC's. Going all the way back to Gamma World first edition there's been a sub game in science fantasy post apocalyptic games of PC's carving out their own empires. There are tons of factions, sex cults, etc all in the hot sweat hog of a space port. But what if the PC's had their own working space port in the wastelands? Could this be done with Gamma Turquoise: Santa Fe Starport ?
In a word, yes & yes because going all the way back to Original Dungeons & Dragons when a PC was hit ninth level they were expected to create a domain. For many players this was a giant pain in the ass. But when you start looking at the various adventure locations that the PC's have been too they often looked to start cleaning the monsters out and moving right in themselves. This often gave the DM a perfect excuse to launch another monster or adventure their way from the dungeons below. We can introduce the idea of wasteland domains for a post apocalyptic game. This means that the former ruins or wasteland dungeons become the wizard's tower, fighter's strong hold, etc. By the same token there were various Blackmoor modules that used the trope of  'the city of the gods' concept.

 Here's where Gamma Turquoise: Santa Fe Starport   comes in. There are a ton of Lovecraftian encounters and ideas mixed into the backdrop. By taking these and creating a cargo cult situation around the star port it can easily be transported over to a traditional Dungeons & Dragons fantasy style world. It also gives the DM the perfect excuse & opportunity to get the PC's off planet if that's his or their plan.

So why does Gamma Turquoise: Santa Fe Starport work? Most of it does but I wanted more of it. More post apocalyptic material, more tools, more background, and deeper NPC's but that's not the point. This is a real rpg tool box that depends on the DM to most of the heavy lifting.  Well the book only clocks in at thirty four pages plus maps meant to be printed used for play. But there are several reasons why Gamma Turquoise: Santa Fe Starport  could spark a campaign faster then a used G3 laser pistol.
Here's ten reasons why  Gamma Turquoise: Santa Fe Starport is a perfect product of opportunity for your old school post apocalyptic games: 

1. Its really useful with other Kort'thalis Publishing products such as Death Fury Road a free Mad Max style post apocalytic game add on for the Crimson Dragon Slayer game or with No Escape From New York another Crimson Dragon title. This can actually round out a whole post apocalyptic world setting with little effort.  

2. The no holds barred adult content can add a very different vector to an old school post apocalyptic game setting such as Gamma World or have the PC's transported as slaves to the wastelands from their current D&D style fantasy setting via the slave route to Gamma Turquoise. 

3. The wasteland domain level of play adds another dimension to the NPC's of the setting allowing the DM to round them out in any way shape or form as he or she see's fit. This means more as the PC's blow a nice laser precision hole through them. 

4. The city of the gods route allows the technology of the Star Port to be very dangerous within a traditional fantasy setting not to mention its possible uses as things heat up in the wastelands. 

5. Gamma Turquoise: Santa Fe Starport  has lots of uses as an adventure location for repeated visits because of its working & unworking facilities within a post apocalyptic setting. Meaning that the PCs can get into all kinds of situations over  & over. 

6. The  Gamma Turquoise: Santa Fe Starport  is a perfect target for a protracted war by a wide variety of post apocalyptic factions. The PC's might end up saving the place from utter destruction by the forces of the wasteland. 

7. The contents of the Star Port might become a religious pilgrimage for some poor deluded foolish faction meaning that the PC's are brought in as guards for a caravan for a very different way to get to the place. 

8.Raiders could make the place a target causing interstellar gangsters to take notice of a juicy target planet. The whole place could spark an interstellar war. 

9. Should the original owners of the place awaken the PC's could be in all kinds of trouble! 

10. Mutants of the place may make life very difficult especially given the deep Lovecraftian connections.

The  Gamma Turquoise: Santa Fe Starport Is On Sale Here

 

Review & Commentary On Wreckside District: A Post Apocalypse Setting From Fishwife Games For Your Old School Campaigns

Good morning I've had a lot of time to think about one of the biggest problems with post apocalyptic gaming regardless of old school & retroclone system. I've been playing a lot of Gamma World 1st & 2nd edition lately. But I've used a mutated ton of systems from Mutant Future to Mutant Epoch as well as several of my own creations in addition to enhancing them with Boot Hill & AD&D 1st edition style system. So I know a bit about post apocalptyic gaming and it always seems to come down to location.
Sure the players have crawled through the ruins of Pitzburke in Gamma World, done with the ruins of California in Mutant Epoch, etc. It really becomes a pain in the ass to keep doing research to some location that they've never heard of for scavenging & ruin creation. The internet has made it that much harder. So the other night I asked my friend Dave Woodrum for Wreckside District: A Post Apocalypse Setting From Fishwife Games

So unlike other Fishwife Games in the past this one has a lot of artwork & some really well done professional layout so its easy on the eyes. The gaming  potential here  for all kinds of havoc at the the table. This is a an urban, post apocalyptic setting that can be used as part loot zone & part city state whole hog & dropped into a campaign.
Its system genric & neutral so its a simple matter to drag & drop this right into a campaign even an on going one with a blank spot on the map like I did with my recent Gamma World/Carcosa game.

A City Of Wasted Potential…
Aria stood at the edge of the wasted city and peered off towards its most functioning, but violent, part... Wreckside. The crumbling district was given its name years ago for the salvage yard and multiple garages and towing services that sprung up in the area. Now its name is more fitting for the condition of the district and its desperate inhabitants.
"So why are we are going back to that place again?" Aria questioned her companion, Darius, as she stared at the dimly glowing lights of the distant buildings, proof that at least some of Wreckside's inhabitants enjoyed the rare treat of functioning electricity.
Darius took a swig from a metal flask as he walked away from the acrid smolder of the dying barrel fire. "Supplies. Some special stuff. Electronics and some old notes on building things. I'll know it when I see it."
Aria hated it when Darius wouldn't tell her exactly what they were looking for. Still, though, Darius was renowned by the outskirt settlers as a master scavenger and for keeping his mouth shut about what his employers wanted him to recover. The young woman has learned a lot since Darius took her under his wing a year ago, and the scavenger has always managed to keep her alive in the process.
"So its another one of those jobs, eh? Typical orders from Garrett, don't let the new kid in on the details...", Aria remarked with an obvious bit of disgust in her voice.
"Hey, don't be knocking on Garrett," Darius replied as he checked the contents of his backpack and finished loading rounds into his pistol clip. "The old man is a bit of a creeper, yeah, but he pays well. Plus, we're going to get a pretty big bonus this time if we get back with exactly what he's hoping we'll find."
"Big bonus? What he hopes we'll find?"
"You'll see. Now follow me... quietly. I've been told there's a safer route into the district."There are a couple of minor gripes with Wreckside District, the price measures out to about seven dollars and fifty cents for the pdf & I'd love to have seen a print option for these old eyes of mine. But trying to get a print pdf option for Drivethrrpg & Rpgnow is a huge pain in the arse. Artists also cost money & I was surprised at the amount of artwork in this title. Artists cost. Believe me I totally understand why. You've got a ton of NPC's, gangers, adventure locations, and more built into this. This means that this is a drag & drop product for a campaign. The other thing about Fish Wife Games is the fact that they're a company that seems to fade into the background of the OSR & table top hobby. This means that players are not aware of them as a potential resource for some really nasty post apocalyptic material.

Its a good resource for any of the PA games I mentioned & more. This could even be used for as Cyberpunk 2020 adventure location out in the badlands & no go zones.
The price is right up there with other pdfs so I would wait for a Drivethrurpg sale and possibly a code. But is it worth your time & efforts? Hmm with the district's map that contains over two hundred numbered locations which are each provided individual descriptions and details. This can be a resource to base an entire campaign around.
Now in lots of other reviews I mentioned Domain level play. What the hell is that? Well, when a PC gets to certain level in OD&D such as ninth or higher it was assumed that if they were a fighter they'd build a stronghold, a wizard a tower, a cleric establish a temple or church, etc. This is basically the PC's carving out their own pound of flesh or land in a campaign setting. For some players this is a huge pain in the arse but for old schoolers this was part & parcel of old school campaign settings. This started with OD&D & carried on in B/X with the Companion & Master rules sets.



But what does this have to old school DYI Retro Future campaigns such as Gamma World & the Wreckside District? Actually everything. Many old school post apocalyptic games such as Gamma World all the way to Mutant Epoch have factions or Cryptic Alliances or whatever name such groups are under. In a nut shell this is an extension of kill the mutants, take their stuff and then rule their kingdoms! You & your party are looking for food, shelter, safety for you as well as your community by this blaster you rule! So essentially the Wreckside District provides one more filled in space to explore, exploit, & take over or does it?
Not so fast kids this is a large area of a loot, and scavenging zone. Here's where the horror just might start. If your forces are spread too thin then you just might crash and burn at the end of a laser shot.
So here's ten reasons why Wreckside District is a perfect product of opportunity for your old school post apocalyptic games: 

1. This is a system neutral product so drag & drop it into your favorite old school or retroclone rpg systems. 
2. Exploit and expand the NPC's, adventure  hooks, etc. as you the DM see fit. 
3. Situate & expand on some of the adventure locations for later post apocalyptic adventures.  
4. Deal with the gangs that are in Wreckside in your own adventures to dove tail them back into bringing the PC's into the adventure location. 
5. Cut, spin, and multilate the Wreckside District as you need to. You are not going to break this one. 
6. Place artifacts and relics from your home campaign where you want them to hook the PC's into the campaign within Wreckside 
7. Kill off a few major NPC's to provide adventure opportunities and for expansion of the PC's as possible rulers 
8. Use Wreckside as a potential take over point for one of the campaign's major big bads 
9. Port over your D&D style adventurers or cowboys for even more weirdness 
10. Have your favorite Drive in film classic Atomic age monster threaten The Wreckside District. 

The Wreckside District
is available right over here but I'd wait till Drivethrurpg has a sale!

Price Drop Note -Dave had read the review and commentary so he dropped the price folks!
"I'm taking note about the price point and have decided to drop it- I actually struggled with that before I decided on the $7.50, and have kinda regretted it since. As such, I'm going to stick a sale price on it immediately and drop it back to around $5."