Old School Anime Ulysses 31 As Inspiration For Your Old School Space Opera

 



This is one of my favorite old school Saturday morning cartoons/anime that I encountered on Nickelodeon back in the early 90's or so. My fiancee whose from the U.K. recently spoke to me at length about this one. Since I've been down with the flu the last day or so my buddy Peter has been keeping me supplied with DVD's and this one was among them. Most of what follows comes from the wiki entry right over
HERE  


Ulysses 31 (宇宙伝説ユリシーズ31 Uchū Densetsu Yurishīzu Sātīwan^?, lit. Space Legend Ulysses 31) (French: Ulysse 31) is a Franco-Japanese animated television series (1981) that updates the Greek mythology of Odysseus (known as "Ulysses" in Latin, hence the name) to the 31st century. The show comprised 26 half-hour episodes and was produced by DIC Audiovisuel in conjunction with anime studio Tokyo Movie Shinsha.^[1] This is also the first show produced by DiC Entertainment, now Cookie Jar Entertainment (2008–2012) and DHX Media (2012–present).

Plot : The plot line of the series, (made by the French Jean Chalopin), describes the struggles of Ulysses and his crew against the divine entities that rule the universe, the ancient gods from Greek mythology. The Gods of Olympus are angered when Ulysses, commander of the giant spaceship, Odyssey, kills the giant Cyclops to save a group of enslaved children, including his son. Zeus sentences Ulysses to travel the universe with his crew frozen until he finds the Kingdom of Hades, at which point his crew will be revived and he will be able to return to Earth. Along the way they encounter numerous other famous figures from Greek mythology who have been given a futuristic twist.

Ulysses (ユリシーズ Yurishīzu^?)

Main character and captain of the Odyssey. He achieved the solar peace before becoming the subject of the Olympian gods' revenge. His weapon of choice is a laser pistol that conceals a blade very similar to the lightsabers in George Lucas' Star Wars, complemented by an energy shield and a belt that allows him to fly. Ulysses is brave, noble, determined, and will stop at nothing to defeat the Gods and the conditions imposed upon himself and his companions.

Telemachus (テレマーク Teremāku^?)

Son of Ulysses and second in command for most of the voyage. Yumi's friend and protector. Very beautiful, as described by Yumi in their first encounter. Courageous, adventurous, and level headed. He is a skilled pilot, and his weapon of choice is a hi-tech, energy-ball shooting slingshot.

Yumi (ユミ Yumi^?)

Thémis in the original French dub (after the name of the ancient Titan). A blue-skinned humanoid alien girl from the white planet, Zotra. She is the younger sister of Numinor and possesses telepathic powers. She is saved from being sacrificed to the Cyclops, along with Telemachus and her older brother, by Ulysses. She also exhibits telekinesis to some extent, as shown in the episodesAt the Heart of the Universe and The Lotus Eaters; in addition, she is immune to fire. Although physically very frail, she is very intelligent and courageous. Zotrians, aside from blue skin, have snow-white hair, pointed ears and slanted eyes with cat-like vertical pupils; they are considered extremely beautiful.

Numinor (ユマイオス Yumaiosu^?)

Noumaïos in the original French dub. A Zotrian teenager and older brother of Yumi. He is saved by Ulysses from being sacrificed to the Cyclops. He is in suspended animation along with the rest of the crew for most of the series. Like his sister, he is considered extremely beautiful. He has a sweet and very gentle personality. He is courageous, as well as trustworthy and loyal. He awakes three times before being finally released from the gods' curse in the final episode of the series: The first time in The Lost Planet, where the Odyssey comes across a white Zotrian moon. Secondly, in Mutiny on Board, where the crew are subjected to possession by an alien essence. The third time is in The Magician in Black, when the entire crew is awakened by a powerful spell by the mysterious Magician in Black. Japan name Yumaiosu is the katakana ortography of English pronunciation of Eumaeus, the pig-guardian of Odysseus in Homer's poem.

Nono (ノノ Nono^?)

Small robotic companion of Telemachus. Fond of eating nuts and nails. He is a trusty friend who was given to Telemachus as a birthday present. He is rather timid, but can be relied upon in a crisis. He is skilled at machinery repair and possesses tremendous physical strength.

Shirka (シルカ Shiruka^?)

The Odyssey's main computer. Speaks with a deep female voice. Japan name Shiruka seems a katakana form of the name Circe.

Zeus (ゼウス Zeusu^?)

The god of gods, Ulysses' persecutor.

Poseidon (ポセイドン Poseidon^?)

God of the Seas, he is enraged by Ulysses' killing of his creature, the Cyclops. He wields a trident, the symbol of his power, and his servants pilot ships that are shaped like a trident.

Hades (アデス Adesu^?)

Ruling god of the Underworld. Ulysses must find his realm to find the way back to Earth.
Using Ulysses 31 For Your Old School Space Opera 

I always have loved this anime and personally I think it would make a fantastic campaign for either X plorers or Stars Without Number. The juxtaposition of anime and mythology got me thinking about running this as a one shot or perhaps as a complete campaign.

The Destroyer star ship class from Stars Without Number makes a good solid stand in for the ship from the crew of Ulysses you are looking at a battle ship from Stars Without Number. 
We're possibly looking at least a decaying tech level four interstellar society almost about to collapse under its own weight. This is a very decadent   and dangerous time as the mythological planar powers are reasserting themselves. We might even be seeing a shift between the powers of law(in this case science and technology) and the emergence of chaos. 
 Much of the interstellar backdrop that the crew of show finds themselves in a fun house mirror of actual Greek mythology and the powers of Ulysses world are dark, dangerous, and almost Lovecraftian in nature. They'e  actually how I pictured Nodens and his bunch in my mind. There are a good deal of cults and mystery religions echoing through this series and my bet is that there are much much darker corners of Ulysses's universe that we don't get to see. There are also a number of dangling plot hooks just weighting for a party of adventurers to solve that the crew of this show leaves behind.Pick your Greek mythological poison and add a technological twist for a first adventure or simply use the dangling plot hooks that the show left behind. If the gods were screwing with Ulysses over a minor infraction. Who knows what they might do to worlds that displease them. 
Don't be afraid to take risks with this type of campaign. Speaking to several players today I got a sense that even through this was a kid's show it had a dark streak that folks took too. "His weapon of choice is a laser pistol that conceals a blade very similar to the lightsabers in George Lucas' Star Wars, complemented by an energy shield and a belt that allows him to fly."
 Ulysses's weapons are tech level four and family heirlooms. PC's should only encounter such items after a series of  life threatening events and adventures! Experience should be handed out for such treasures but it doesn't mean that they'd work for any given amount of time. 
There is a metric ton of room to explore the 'Ulysses thirty one' universe and as such the DM is fairly open to explore and feel free to interpret their own version of this old school anime classic. 

Ulysses 31 makes a perfect campaign canvas for Stars Without Number rpg  especially with The Codex of the Black Sun: Sorcery book. You've got all of the factions, powers, & even traces of 'the Roman Greco gods' in this book.





So what the Hell is up with the 'gods' in Ulysses 31? Someplace in humanity's distant past in the universe of the anime we had some falling out with what appear to be these gods. Magick & divine magick is found within the setting but extremely rare. And this sorta of fits the options that are within The Codex of the Black Sun: Sorcery.  Many of the tropes & ideas that are within Ulysses 31 are already available to the DM in Stars Without Number. 

Review & Commentary On Demons of Dundurn (1982) By Les R. Scanlon & Derek C. Watson From Judge's Guild For Advanced Dungeons & Dragons First Edition & Your Old School Campaigns

 

"An eerie silence greeted the dawn at Riverside House the morning after the wedding feast of Arnulf and Gunda. As the day wore on concerned villagers appealed to Oskine to gather some of the guests at the Feathered Serpent Inn and investigate. Oskine instructed the group of guests to proceed ahead and said he would join them later. The guests crossed the empty threshold to discover..."

Note: The cover states that it is "Part 1 of the Rood of Parth Series" but no further adventure were ever published in this series too bad. And we'll see why.. 

At the moment sitting here in a favorite little bestro & coffee house with my current favorite Judge Guild module let' flash back to Eighty two. For a moment, we've already looked into the possibility of adding in  Ravenscrag to this Wilderlands of High Fantasy Campaign. But if the events of Gary Gygax's B2 Keep on the Borderlands unfold then what?! The whole region blows up into a full blown war. But let's face it this should take months of real actual game time. So what can we do in the mean time?! Demons of Dundurn (1982) By Les R. Scanlon &  Derek C. Watson From Judge's Guild has all of the right ingredients for a nasty heel adventure  turn in the meantime. There's plenty of NPC's, solid locations, an entire village, & some excellent cartography. Demons of Dundurn is the Wilderlands of High Fantasy settled & the civilized areas of the map. 

The adventure plot is solidly done & this works out as a great mid level or mid tier adventure for Castles & Crusades as well as Advanced Dungeons & Dragons as it was meant to. The whole cloth of Demons of Dundurn could easily be set right outside of the Citystate of the World Emperor without muddying the waters. Why?! Because in the shadow of the citystate the whole of module's adventures become a ripple in the greater schemes of the citystate. This lends campaign weight to the adventure whole package & product. 

What recommends Demons of Dundurn? The adventure can be easily slipped into any existing campaign.But what makes it desirable is the fact that the adventure's construction fits the world feel of a game of Castles & Crusades as a system. 
If the Wilderlands of High Fantasy is Frank Frazetta artwork, classic Sword & Sorcery  &  Appendix N influences then Demons of Dundurn is classic Saturday movie serial with plenty of action & sword play. The adventure plot is there, the artwork is top notch for a Judge's Guild product. 

I keep saying that Demons of Dundurn fits the over arching style & go about that is the Castles & Crusade system. This isn't an idle opinion, this is a testament to the hard line of Demons of Dundurn. This adventure could be used as bridge gap for C&C's Haunted Highlands & the Wilderlands of High Fantasy. The NPC's, the locations, & etc of Demons of Dundurn fit the venerable mini campaign setting of the Highlands. 
The Feathered Serpent Inn is perfect as an adventure location into the Haunted Highlands. Perhaps the inn occasionally 'wanders' a bit. 

Again this fits some of what I've seen in the new up coming Troll Lords adventures. Why?! Because Troll Lords is getting ready to launch a new Kickstarter soon 'The Feathered Serpent' could provide a way of translating between potent gaming resources. 

Demons of Dundurn offers an alternative to the 2020's same again & off again OSR offerings. We're deep into Eighty two weirdness with a twist or two of locations, solid NPC's & more. 

Now I really love the artwork in this adventure that said this review comes with a note. Many DM's will find that James Mishler's Magnificent Miscellaneum Volume II is going to be of use if your running Demons of Dundurn as a part of your  C&C campaign. Can't say why?! But you can figure it out folks. 

All together Demons of Dundurn (1982) By Les R. Scanlon &  Derek C. Watson is another title that I'm very glad was included on the near infinite thumb drive I received as a gift. The adventure is another slice of '82 Advanced Dungeons & Dragons at its best in my humble opinion. 

I'll save you a seat at the Feather Serpent Inn & have the bar maid save you an ale. Ta Ta for now my friends. 

The Cult of Kyuss - A Different OSR Ecology for the Sons of Kyuss for Your Old School Games

“This place had once been the seat of an evil older than mankind and wider than the known universe.”
― H.P. Lovecraft, The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories

 This morning a player of mine approached me in the local coffee shop where we started talking about the Sons of Kyuss both the legendary monsters & the rock band. But more on the Fiend Folio monster of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first edition legend. And it got me thinking about the Sons of Kyuss. After all Halloween is the perfect time for these things! 

Way back a fellow DM had a theory that Kyuss was a Greyhawk diety & possible priest of Orcus who rose up the ladder to achieve immortality through his service. These things appeared in Greyhawk Adventures & are as reviled in that book as they are in their early Fiend Folio appearances. 

Bell of Souls has an excellent article on the Sons of Kyuss but it doesn't really dive too much into the lore of the monsters. But dives into their background leaving fifth edition lore to sort out much of their mythology;" In 5th Edition the Spawn of Kyuss had its lore sorted out. They were created by Kyuss, who was a high priest of Orcus, the demon prince of undeath, and he created these walking plague monsters as an expression of Orcus’ intent to replace all life with undeath. They do not eat, do not sleep, they care for nothing save to slay the living and create more of their kind. Worse yet, creatures transformed into Spawn of Kyuss themselves have their souls trapped within the corpse, preventing the individual from being raised or resurrected until the body is destroyed and the soul released. In 5th Edition, these undead look much like an ordinary zombie from a distance, until you close with them, and then the mass of writhing green maggots surge forth, eager and hungry to create more of their masters’ dark creations.

Source: https://www.belloflostsouls.net/2019/06/dd-monster-spotlight-the-spawn-of-kyuss.html"

For the mythology this get's away from the meat & undead heart of the Sons of Kyuss. The leprous mummy like undead  horrors from the depths of the Fiend Folio first edition. 

Now let's bring these horrors back to Greyhawk shall we?! The Kyuss entry on the Forgotten Realms wiki site  dives back into the various Dungeons & Dragons editions added on mythology. This  give the whole disease covered worm drenched horror added Lovecraftian depths ; "The true story of the being known as the Worm that Walks was a mystery to scholars, although some claimed that he was once a high priest of Orcus.^[3] The only known fact all agreed on was that the Worm that Walks was originally a demigod called Kyuss, who had lived in the ancient past as a mortal necromancer and created many aberrant undead creatures,^[2] such as the spawn of Kyuss that plagued the Underdark.^[4]

Eventually, Kyuss's wickedness made his contemporaries to exile him to the fringes of society. Rather than languishing as an outcast, he became the prophet of a wicked cult who believed in the dreaded Age of Worms. During this time Kyuss discovered the ruins of a dead civilization in an island near Maztica, known as the Wormcrawl Island by the elves of Evermeet, and claimed the site as its own, where he ruled as a god-king. In the ruins, his followers discovered ancient metal plates, which held terrible secrets but also confirmed every prophecy he had spoken.^[2][5]

Through these inscriptions, Kyuss discovered how to transcend mortality at a terrible price—the lives of his congregation. On one bloody night he instructed his priests to slaughter them all, and after that Kyuss murdered the priests as well. When he was finished, he fused his essence with the foul ruins, gaining and losing his divinity in one moment. He was neither mortal nor god, and he was bound forever to the ruins. However, he was transformed into something far worse.^[2]

Some scholars believed Kyuss was related to the Far Realm-infested star Nihal. Either Kyuss was its brother or both were the same being observed from two different points in time.^[6]

After the Time of Troubles, a coalition of banites, bhaalites and myrkulites uncovered ancient scrolls regarding to Kyuss, and tried to find Wormcrawl Island in hopes Kyuss would resurrect their respective gods"

Now personally as a DM I use some of this background but amp up the horror elements far more by having Kyuss as an apprentice to Orcus in some forgotten age of Greyhawk. Then having him contact the far realm as a short cut to both becoming a deity & short cutting with the Far Realms. 
Kyuss is a the infection that grows! His cult is a sort of quisi Egyptian or more like a Greco Roman Alexandrian cult that has spread itself across the planes! 

Kyuss achieved immortality at a terrible price for each of those worms bares a fragment of his undead soul. The cult has grown across the planes & is the abomination to the Egyptian  deities that it mocks through its trappings of horror. 
Where stalk the sons & daughters of Kyuss undead horror & plague follow in their wake! Originally the Sons were a plague upon Greyhawk but it wasn't long before they spread across the planes! 
How?! The far realms of course. Yes the demi god had achieved immortality but he was spread across the planes scattered to the four winds. His horror arrived on 'The World of Aihrde'. And it set to work spreading its leprous evil in spades. 

On the world of Judge's Guild Wilderlands of High Fantasy the plague that was Kyuss spread like a dark wind across the desert regions & beyond. There were however a great crusade to push the horrors back beyond the edge of the world. 

The priests of Kyuss still stumble through the dark nights of the Wilderlands spreading their plagues & horrors as they roam. The plague still crops up now & again with the stumbling & shambling of the cult of Kyuss. Now there are several minor orders of paladins & knights dedicated to eradicating the cult & its undead wherever they are found. 



On Hyperborea the Sons of Kyuss plague was actually checked by the arrival of the Green Death. The spread of the horrors beyond the Diamond Desert was halted & checked by the destruction of the Green Death when even death may die under the gaze of another god.In certain circles of Keltic & Hyperborean shaman's networks these horrors are known. The Druids know of this hate of old & they loath these things of the anti life. 

On  Kanahu the elves in their corrupted state were ripe for the message of the cults of Kyuss but the Greys would have none of it. They began a thirty year campaign against the cult which ended only with the complete destruction of two of their controlled capital cities & the razing of several massive ancient grave yards to no avail. 

All of this was for naught the worms & cult were entrenched on the far off world. There are those who insist that the Sons of Kyuss were gone but many reports come in from many corners of explosions of the cult's activities across the planes! 

Ten reasons Why The Sons of Kyuss are still active & dangerous! 

1.  The sons are an invasive cult & infest any & all ruins that they can! The multiplication of their numbers are paramount to the interests of the cult. 
2. Many times the Sons place themselves in around artifacts & treasures to spread the 'faith' of their numbers. 
3. Kyuss & Orcus hate each other often battling for supremacy for their undead spawn. 
4. The sons are pure evil & even the devils put aside their differences to eradicate them. 
5. Those affected by the diseases of Kyuss can actively be sometimes controlled by the demigod itself. They are unwilling vectors of the cult moving from place to place. 
6. Those within the embrace of Kyuss are aware of the demigod owning their souls & tormenting them. This very fact means that they are willing to do anything for temporary relief from the ancient horror's whims. 
7. The cult actively steals treasures & artifacts to lure others especially adventurers into its clutches. 
8. The sons have a sort of hazy collective undead consciousness that enables them to commune across vast distances & with their demi god master. 
9. The worms are actively spread by cult members as a sarciment of immortality little knowing the horror that goes with them. 
10. Every night the sons of Kyuss stumble across the deserts & wastelands of worlds spreading themselves a bit more to bring all under the will of Kyuss. 

OSR Review & Commentary On the Beginning Castles & Crusades Adventure 'A Blaze in the Northern Sky' By Scott Myers For Your Old School Game System Campaign

 

Never let it be said that circumstances can make one take a break between breaths. Recently a friend came to me looking for a beginning adventure recommendation for his home Castles & Crusades home  game. Now sure there are ton of beginning adventures out there but for something that really flies in the face of convention?! I strongly recommend A Blaze in the Northern Sky by Scott Myers . This is a bit of a different matter & while I have covered Mr.Myer's adventure before with a review of  'Under a Funeral Moon'.   I paid for A Blaze in the Northern Sky  out of pocket for the chance to take a look at the adventure. 
Believe it or not beginning OSR adventures can be absolutely easily screwed up. And this isn't one of those. Instead its a straight forward set up & take down with very nasty twist in the middle of it. The set up goes something like this;"The people in the village are weary but still worried. The village was raided by Hobgoblins and a large Ogre that wore a collar and chain last night. The local ranger fought and killed 3 Hobgoblins before succumbing to his wounds. The Hobgoblins took most of the town’s supply of grain and with winter around the corner they fear they will go hungry come years end. Several men in town got together and decided they would go after the raiders. They gathered their weapons and followed the Hobgoblins into the woods north of town. About a half hour later the villagers noticed the woods north of town were on fire. It rained here around sunrise and the forest fires died out, which is strange because the players noticed no signs of rain on their travels to here." 
This is a straight up action set piece from beginning to end & starts with a bang! And it keeps going! Hobgoblins & horrors are here aplenty & they don't stop. This is war right out of the gate with the village caught in the middle & a mini crawl right in the middle there's enough here to start the PC's in the deep end of a C&C campaign. 

 

I don't want to give too much away but this module picks up the action in the old school of the sense that the PC's are gonna be a part of something nasty because out in the bigger world there's lots going on beyond your level. 
 Not only could this be set up in Greyhawk but A Blaze in the Northern Sky   could be used as a prelude to a classic TSR module. You got combat & you've go dungeon crawling happening in one very short module but those adventure elements could be used to connect  A Blaze in the Northern Sky   right into the back door of Gary Gygax's T1 The Village of Homlett. The events of a A Blaze in the Northern Sky   could have the PC's stumble right into the village very much the worse for wear! 

Adventure events unfold from there but they lead right into B2 Keep on the Borderland! Why?! Because they can that's why?! This all sets the stage for Gary Gygax & Frank Mentzer's T1-4 The Temple of Elemental Evil!  A Blaze in the Northern Sky   isn't a 'Scooby Doo' crap sack of an adventure that doesn't deliver. In stead this is a solid & carefully crafted little slice of violence & degeneration for the PC's as they navigate through a shark tank of weirdness. 

A Blaze in the Northern Sky   could be set within  Castles & Crusades Aihrde because it has all of the classic elements within it for continued play! The history of  Castles & Crusades Aihrde fits easily the back story of A Blaze in the Northern Sky  . This is exactly what I wanna see as a dungeon master. A miniumist approach to an adventure so that if need to modify it then its easily done. Again this is the hallmark of a good adventure. And one that could take its 'p's & ''q's from classic gaming. Is  A Blaze in the Northern Sky   a good adventure?! Yes as a beginning adventure that puts the PC's into the hearth & then adds logs to the fire. 

Could A Blaze in the Northern Sky  be added into the weirdness & background of  the Haunted Highlands with the menace & adventure plot really lending itself as a possible beginning for the highly venerable C&C setting? The answer to this is a quick yes! 

But let's talk about yet another setting that would fit the plot of   A Blaze in the Northern Sky   adventure. That setting is the Castles & Crusades version of Judge's Guild's The Wilderlands of High Fantasy. The adventure plot is down & dirty,the violence very much in the vein of Sword & Sorcery. So everything neatly fits into the dovetailed weirdness of the 'Wilderlands'! The monsters are all provided for the dungeon master, the encounters are laid bare, & everything is ready to go from outta of the tin A Blaze in the Northern Sky  ! This is good adventure & way to start a Castles & Crusade campaign! 

Review & OSR Commentary On Dead Names: Lost Races and Forgotten Ruins By Kevin Crawford For The Stars Without Numbers rpg & Your Old School Science Fiction Rpg Campaigns

"Dead Worlds Lie Dreaming

Beneath the dirt of fallen worlds lie the bones of forgotten empires and the relics of peoples now vanished into legend. Countless wonders lie silent, awaiting the hands of starfaring adventurers and the curiosity of fearless investigators. What glorious citadels and eldritch marvels remain undiscovered by humanity in the present age, and what miracles lie in the silent tombs of ancient alien kings?"

Lately there's been a glut of titles that have taken up a huge chunk of my time & there hasn't been time to take up a lot of titles on the back burner for review. That's been changing with the reintroduction of that thumbdrive of my dungeon master friend whose moved outta of Connecticut. And this brings us to the  first edition Stars Without Numbers rpg. And today what kicked this off was a friend asking about if there was ever going to be an exploration of the Elder Thing's dungeons that the players had dealt with recently in our Cha'alt/Carcosa rpg campaign near the Western edge of the Delta canyon. 
This brings me to SWN's Dead Names: Lost Races and Forgotten Ruins which is a sixty four page book written by Kevin Crawford during the game's heyday of 2014 or so.  And the more I looked through this title the more it occurred to me that this would be a perfect book for the Cepheus Engine rpg  The fact that I'd use the  Cepheus Engine rpg for generating the sector for any ruins or space dungeons goes without saying. 

This book is a tool box full of all kinds of creatures, random tables, etc. all geared around the creation of space dungeons, ruins, & other adventure locations. The meat of the book centers around the full on creation of alien worlds & places where the whole cloth of interstellar civilization has passed on or regressed. But the tone & wealth of the book is  centered around  the  full generation, history of aliens & their  ruins amid their history  all of it! Because Dead Names: Lost Races and Forgotten Ruins  is a Stars Without Numbers rpg book it makes it dead easy to use it for other OSR games. 
The first thing I thought of was using Dead Names: Lost Races and Forgotten Ruins  with Adventurer,Conqueror, King's Rpg setting book The Barbarian Conquerors of Kanahu  sourcebook.

What's remarkable about Dead Names: Lost Races and Forgotten Ruins  is how versitile of a product it is & what can be done with it. This a great book for a science fantasy campaign. There's lots of good stuff to steal from & its perfect to generate your own planets or even planes of ruins for exploration & or horror even. The artifacts are creepy, the creatures deadly, & the book is of course right up there with many of the Stars Without Number rpg products for quality & actual ulitity. Hell I could even see using  Dead Names: Lost Races and Forgotten Ruins  for creating aliens for SpellJammer style games. 

 Dead Names: Lost Races and Forgotten Ruins  would be exceptionally useful for the Cepheus Light rpg where a solid & quick upbeat for a set up for a set of alien ruins is needed & needed quickly. 

Review & Commentary On The TSAO: Signal 99 Adventure By Richard Hazlewood From Stellagama Publishing For The Cepheus Engine RPG & The Classic Traveller Rpg

" In this adventure, the characters are crew members or passengers on a starship. As they emerge from jump in the remote system of Parvati and begin moving towards the mainworld, they pick up a distress signal, a Reticulan (grey alien!) “Signal 99”, from a nearby ship. The ship is in danger and in need of rescue.

As the characters race to save the dying ship, they discover the true nature of the Reticulan vessel. However, there are other parties interested in the fate of the stricken vessel, and not necessarily interested in helping…

The damaged ship is a dreaded Reticulan Abductor. The hated Reticulan Empire used these large vessels to capture subjects for their nefarious experiments. As the characters explore the ship, they will discover that there are many human subjects aboard the ship in low berths – what the Reticulans planned to do with them is the subject of horror stories. This should be especially disturbing to the characters, as the Reticulan Empire recently signed a treaty with the human United Terran Republic that specifically outlaws abduction and experimentation on humans. There are a number of Reticulan survivors as well. Also aboard the Abductor are a group of insect-like Zhuzzh, known throughout the galaxy as hard-nosed scavengers and pirates. The characters will discover the Zhuzzh as they are removing the frozen humans from the Abductor and transferring them aboard their ship. Their ultimate purpose is unknown, but the Zhuzzh do not want to share their “salvage” with others.

The characters will have to make some tough decisions. Will they try to save the surviving Reticulans, including children, or let them die and save just the humans? Will they go after the Zhuzzh vessel when the salvagers flee or stay and save more survivors from the ship? There are no ideal answers to these dilemmas. Driving this tension and action is the impending explosion of the Abductor’s damaged power plant. No matter what they do, the characters will not be able to save everyone – they will have to save as many as they can and then flee for their lives."


Claustrophobic, tight, dangerous, & very horrifying are not things that reviewers tpyically write about when their reviewing an adventure.But that's exactly the sort of adjectives that one can use for TSAO: Signal 99 by Richard Hazlewood.  TSAO: Signal 99 seems like a pretty straight forward adventure believe me its not & its a pain in the arse. I mean this in the best possible sense of the word for a table top rpg adventure.  TSAO: Signal 99 for the Celpheus Engine rpg is going to test the players to their absolute limits if played right. This is not an adventure for the unwary or the easily frustrated. The adventure itself isn't difficult but its adventure elements are! 
Take your average Sixties or Seventies action film with tight locations, add in elements of a savagely hated empire, mix in a whole lot of suspense and you've got  TSAO: Signal 99 

via GIPHY

So why is  TSAO: Signal 99 so nasty & dangerous?! Because  TSAO: Signal 99 is about choices & having PC's live with the consquences. The  insect-like Zhuzzh who are notorious pirates, scavengers, & smugglers are right in the thick of things inside what turns out to be a a badly damaged Reticulan Abductor. And that's only a quarter of what's happening. There's a ton of lever pulling, & button smashing in this adventure & its easy to see when & where PC's are gonna die. There is a ton of water under the bridge between the humans & the Reticulan Empire. If you want a really nice primer for your games of the TSAO universe with a nice slice of its history then I suggest the TSAO: A Primer to These Stars Are Ours!. Its free & it contains everything needed to started down the deep rabbit hole that is the TSAO setting. 
But for anyone wanting to run or DM  TSAO: Signal 99 don't skim go for the whole  burrito  with the These Stars Are Ours sourcebook. There's a lot going on in TSAO: Signal 99. The best way of handling  TSAO: Signal 99  is to be prepared for many of the eventualities that could arise from things going sideways in this adventure. 

 TSAO: Signal 99 is a good adventure & infact excellent but its not one for the inexperienced DM at all. This is a solid adventure in fact for the original Traveller rpg. Why?! It actually not only touches on many of the themes of the original Traveller rpg but it does so with style. But  TSAO: Signal 99 takes its adventure 'P''s & 'Q''s from both war films & action flicks with a lot of gerne promises form these sources. In other words  TSAO: Signal 99 is a module for experienced Traveller or Cephues Engine rpg players only. Both in its run & what it does. What it does is take the full measure of the players & then  shoves them through the adventure gaunlet. There's lots of problem solving, old war issues, & more that need the expert touch. Can I see running this with a merc outfit or a group of military veterans who are on vacation?! Absolutely! 
Would   TSAO: Signal 99 make a good campaign rider adventure?! Abosolutely!  TSAO: Signal 99 make a good beginning adventure? Possibly for the sort of Traveller rpg or Celpheus rpg players who have ton of experience under their belt! Would I run  TSAO: Signal 99? And buy it?! Absolutely! Solidly written very well done, and a top brass spit & polish add on to the Celpheus Engine Rpg..  TSAO: Signal 99 is a great adventure that I've had the pleasure of reviewing! 

Review & Commentary On Ravenscrag By Judge's Guild For Advanced Dungeons & Dragons First Edition & Your Old School Campaigns

Once again the deep well of my thumb drive provides me with a place that I just need to add into my on going campaign. This isn't the usual module that you hear about around the hobby shop soda machine. 



 In Eight- One Judges Guild produced Ravenscrag, a sorta of back filler kinda module that is rather unique its output & feel. Ravenscrag isn't your usual Judges Guild's product because while many JG products & books were generic in look & feel. Ravensscrag is all  castle and attendant area book. And its such that it can be dropped into your own campaign. For my purposes its proto Celtic/Norman feel is exactly the sorta of place that I want in the Wilderlands of High Fantasy. Why?! 

There's a lot going on in Ravenscrag! The module is chalk full of NPC's & a kingdom in turmoil. The kinda of turmoil that adventurers make much worse. You've got 

detailing the rooms and inhabitants of a six-level castle and a five story keep all within the reach of the player's PC's and that's where things get very interesting. How interesting?! Ravenscrag is a perfect location to tack on B2 Keep on the Borderlands.


Why? Because Ravenscrag makes an excellent castle & kingdom along the same track along the borderlands as the famous keep. And there's just as much intrigue happening in Ravenscrag. 

The maps, NPC's, and really the over all package of  Ravenscag make the whole very pleasing to the eye & the palatte of the old school gamer. Infact I'm not the only one who loved the module pacakge;"Paul O'Connor reviewed Ravenscrag in The Space Gamer No. 45.^[1] O'Connor commented that "If you play D&D or think you can overcome the problems of non-specific text, then Ravenscraft is an excellent buy for the money."" So as you can see there's quite a bit on the full burn of this module. 

The dungeons,the keep, the locations, & even the overall feel of this module keep the DM coming back for a bit more of a dip into the weyrd pools of Ravenscrag. There's a proto Arthurian or Norman Britian feel here that reminds me of a time long gone from fairy tales & deeds of daring do. 
But what is there for the OSR gamer?! 

Ravenscrag offers up a heap of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons madness that takes its cues from both '81 AD&D as well as some seriously good resources to pull from. The kingdom itself can be dragged & dropped into any world but fits in the seriously deadly annals of '81 style gaming. But that unto itself isn't its only draw. For Castles & Crusades the vibe of Ravenscrag fits within many of the recent adventures that we've seen outta of Troll Lords. Because Troll Lords is getting ready to launch a new Kickstarter soon  Ravenscrag could provide a way of translating between potent gaming resources. 

Why!? Because adventurers need islands of stability amid increasingly dangerous places. Fortunately Ravenscrag isn't that but kinda of is if lots of criteria are met. In otherwords there's a Hell of a lot of opportunity for the DM to use Ravenscrag to their advantage. 

Is Ravenscrag a good module?! Yes but is it a fantastic one?! Sorta if the DM is looking for a location that can offer as much adventures as it does opportunity across the board. Ravenscrag is a solid addition unto Castles & Crusades for myself. Because it takes the DM into a world of intrigue & the players into solid danger! Again classic & very well done for Eight One AD&D! 

The Shadow of the Serpent Men III - The Twist of the Fang & The Tightening of The Coil - Session Report

Artwork from the  OSPREY GHOST ARCHIPELAGO  Miniatures game 
more information here. 

The party barely made it out alive from  Tomb of the Serpent Kings - Deluxe Print Edition by Skerples. In the end they grabbed whatever treasure they could & made for the hill villages & town. They completed the king's request. And recovered the amulet that belonged to his daughter.
 

DM Steve is still down with a nasty case of food poisoning, yes he's recovering quite nicely.  It seems like forever since we've talked about the game of 'The Shadow of the Serpent Men' mini campaign. Quite a bit has been happening but tonight we got together for a small pre Halloween party. The soda was flowing & already things were going pretty solid. There was fire roaring & things were nice. We were all following safety proceedures following Covid 19 lines. The adventurers have freed themselves from the dungeons of the king. 
The party went into town to requip and there were rumors swirling about the Master. The PC's were trying get their zombie victim healed. They heard about some of the weirdness surrounding Dave Cook's X5 Temple of Death in town. 

The town sits on the edge of a mysterious jungle & wasteland desert. There are many villages dotting the landscape. They've already run into a couple of mutated villagers & the party is starting to suspect that they might not be in Kansas. There was talk about a village over the mountains to the West that has a moat house that needs to be cleared. But for the moment they want to stay put in town & are hold up in an inn called the Skink's Eye. 

They've gone to see a local sage about the history of the Zaharan Sorcerer-Queen Semiramis & some of her serpent men Ilk as well as their links to some of the history of the Elves in the region. 

With the fire crackling I linked this history back unto Cyfaraun & its long rumored horrors & corruption. Evidence of elven construction is still visible in the city’s oldest district, today called Old Cyfaraun.The party started looking funny at the Elven sell sword that's had their back for some time now. 

So now the party is searching the town for signs of serpent men hybrids & possible cultists. They heard some rumors of some savage murders at the edge of town. They made their way to the edge of the wasteland where the wind blows savage & found a human thigh bone jutting from a grate! Embrace the way of Yig and Thoth-Amon, and despair! The city guard brushed the party off as the bones belonging to one of the local city drunks who disappeared two weeks ago. But they know better & their taking the bones back to the sage & his alchemist partner for analysis. 

So now they've started to investigate the edges of the city & the wastelands for hidden passages or possible ways into the sewers. The party is now starting to talk with rat catchers, waddlers, & others who handle the human sewage in the area. But they are also looking for signs of the serpents on them as well.