Wednesday, March 27, 2024

OSR Review & Commentary On The Kasaragod Class Liner By Moon Toad Publishing For The Cepheus Engine, Old School Traveller & 2d6 Rpg Powdered Games

 "The Kasaragod Class Liner is a small scale passenger liner, based on the hull of the Kambala Class Freighter. It is intended for providing medium to high value passengers a safe and secure environment to travel between systems. The 800dton ship is capable of Jump-2, sustained 2-G Manoeuvre and extended duration. It has fuel scoops and processors, and is streamlined for wilderness refuelling and planetary landing."



"It is fully equipped with 8 x remote double laser turrets capable of central fire control, independent power plant, Launch, and manoeuvre bays, and five x 19 person lifepods for emergency evacuation."

If there was ever a time when  
The Kasaragod Class Liner By Moon Toad Publishing could come in handy for our games. That time is now! We've got three different campaigns going from Hostile, Clement Sector, and a Stars Without Numbers rpg campaign running. The fact is that we could use a mid sized starliner and the The Kasaragod Class Liner is a perfect addition. Let me explain. 
Space and interstellar tourism is big business and the larger starliners are well taken. These allow for a mid level space line like " 
The Kasaragod Class Liner " to literally act as an economic stop gap. 
The 
The Kasaragod Class Liner has literally everything we're looking for in a starliner. It's mid sized range allowing it to be affordable to both the rich and ultra rich. Moon Toad has created differet configurations and the details that they bring to the table on this ship are well done. 
You could easily and effectively insert this class of ship right into your Clement Sector or Earth sector games with little fuss. However it's not outrageously high tech to the point that it couldn't be shoe horned into a Hostile campaign with little issue. The design and layout are well done with lots of interesting bits to hook your PC's with. The layout and artwork holds the reader while the font isn't too hard on the eyes. The whole ship is pleasing to eye and wallet. 
You've got everything one needs without too much to overwhelm the dungeon master employing it. 
The Kasaragod Class Liner By Moon Toad Publishing is well done and could easily give a bunch of pirates a well deserved bloody nose. 
This starship fills an economic role for the space tourism and holiday venues. But it does it well. 
Would I recommend  
The Kasaragod Class Liner By Moon Toad Publishing?! In a word, yes. The starship has a ton of applications and adventure potential within this starships. 

Monday, March 25, 2024

Manufactured Mutants - Adding in The 2d6 Details into Hostile's Colony Earth Using Other 2d6 Resources

 Mutation in Cepheus Engine & Hostile has been on my mind lately because of rereading Dragon magazine issue 109 May 1986 which contains in the Ares section  'The Double Helix Connection  Mutants In Traveller Gaming  " By Michael Brown. We've got artificial mutant breeds that have been produced on Earth to help with the ecological collapse. These are self sustaining breeds of mankind. And yes, we're revisiting these themes from here on the blog.

Earth's mega corporations are primed to create artificial mutant strains, copyright & trademark such breeds, and then bring these breeds to term. These are completely different then the proles that are produced for extra solar colonies. 
These strains are produced to work in, clean up, and live in the Hellish conditions of post ecological collapse America and Europe. They are mutations designed to withstand the harshest enviroments that Earth has to offer. 
Why? Why would megacorporations produce such entities?! Simple really and that is that they get to over the long term see the experimentation of such mutants live in thier own laboratories of toxic enviroments. 
Imagine if you will that over the long haul these breeds of mutated mankind allow the mega corporations to set up long haul colonies. These colonies allow the mega corporations to literally own thier own workers right down to the skin on thier backs. 
Dragon magazine issue 109 May 1986 which contains in the Ares section  'The Double Helix Connection  Mutants In Traveller Gaming  " By Michael Brown has the perfect collection of guidelines and rules for introducing such mutated humanity to Hostile's Earth. 

Copyrighted mutated humanity could be excellent for long term colony worlds for the megacorporations. The ground work for this is being laided on by the megacorporations. These allow the corporations to claim whole worlds. And given the propensity for the worlds of Hostile to be incredibly varied. 
Designing mutations and colony compatibility is a science unto itself. But the crapshoot comes with the genetic defects that come with tempering with genes. 
Some of these genes could be crippling to the mutant strain. However because we're talking about generational mutaions. When we're dealing with generational gene mutation designed to deal with other worldly conditions. Then we're talking about long term designs that can play across generations. And dealing with high speed computer mathmatical models of these species of humanity. What about animal kind?! Afterday has a great 2d6 blend into itself to help to blow out some of Hostile Earth's colonial details. 

Why because of the fact that Afterday represents the colonies that were first put into space during the events of the early part of the Second Recession. 
And this goes right along with Hostile's timeline. Reading through it reveals levels of danger and reckless corporate ventures of exploration. Afterday represents those ventures in spades as failed colonies and even Earthside ecological collapse. 
The events surrounding such collapse extend to technology and even artifacts. Artifacts that link to a higher level of technology that is invaluable to the corporations. 








Friday, March 22, 2024

OSR Review & Commentary The Wretched Bestiary by ML Straus For The Expended Wretched Rpg

 " The Wretched Bestiary, by ML Straus is now available at The Red Room store, Giant Slayer Games and Big Geek Emporium. In spite of the Wretched prefix this 314-page book was designed to be used in any OSR game. " 




"Sure, it has a fair amount of Wretched supernatural and alien monstrosities, but you will also find in it dragons, orcs, goblins, undead, giants, trolls (and slime, of course). With a stunning (perhaps even brave) cover by Jae Tanaka complemented by the interior illustrations of Jeremy Hart, bringing to life both the wretched and the classic denizens of fantasy realms." 

https://moordereht.com/product/wretched-bestiary

The Wretched Bestiary by ML Straus is a huge collection of monsters that serves as a great overview of the Wretchedverse rpg monsters. Wretched Bestery codifies and classifies all of the monsters in the Wretched family of rpg's. 
What makes the Wretched Bestery so good is the fact that horror games lives and die on thier monsters. And this supplement is packed with animals & monsters including those from the Beyond. 
And the Wretched Bestery contains creatures everywhere from urban legends as well as Crytids to mythological monsters. This puts the Wretchedverse rpg on another level because it sets up the entire game with potential NPC's and enemies with literally unlimited game potential. According to 
The Red Room (Miguel Ribeiro
 The Revised & Expanded Wretched Rules will; "
More than 600 pages, containg the revised core rules and a selection of optional rules from all the Wretched settings."





























 And what does this have to with the Wretched Bestery?! Everything the book expands on many sections from mundane animals to full on dragons then dives into creatures from the Beyond. The Wretched Bestery does the job of really grabbing the DM and applying great creatures for thier imagination. The artwork &  illustration headers by  @jeremyhartillos the artwork in the Wretched Bestery is a step up from other Wretched products in many ways.


Artwork in the Wretched Bestery really sets up the imagination for exactly the sort of horrors that we're going to be facing in a Wretched adventure. The Wretched Bestery works well because of competant layout, solid writing, good writing & easily readable fonts. The Wretche Bestery does an excellent job of not only settting up the monsters. But also has solid adventure hooks, ideas, & more for incorporating the Wretched horrors into your games. And the Wretched Bestery has a solid grasp of using these monsters within your own Wretched Rpg fueled campaign games. Grab this one!

Wednesday, March 20, 2024

Kingdoms of the Living, the Slimy, & the Dead - - Clark Aston Smith's The Charnal God & Maximum Mayhem Dungeons - Mini Adventure #2: Slime Pits of the Sewer Witch

 It's been a long while since I've done anthing with our Clark Ashton Smith Zothique Castles & Crusades campaign. A friend and fellow player wants together together over the weekend & pick up with our Zothique campaign in a minor kingdom around the region of Zul-Bha-Sair. We've definitely had our times around that region wayback in January of 2024.  My friend Mark Taormino has a new Kickstarter for his OSR imprint Dark Wizard Games. And I'm thinking of incorporating Mark's Dark Wizard Adventure Slime Pits of the Sewer Witch our Clark Ashton Smith's Zothique Castles & Crusades campaign. Here's how we do it. 





















Rodney Mathews artwork used without permission 

""Take heed lest you utter blasphemy," admonished the innkeeper. "Mordiggian is old and omnipotent as death. He was worshipped in former continents, before the lifting of Zothique from out the sea. Through him, we are saved from corruption and the worm. Even as the people of other places devote their dead to the consuming flame, so we of Zul-Bha-Sair deliver ours to the god. Awful is the fane, a place of terror and obscure shadow untrod by the sun, into which the dead are borne by his priests and are laid on a vast table of stone to await his coming from the nether vault in which he dwells. No living men, other than the priests, have ever beheld him; and the faces of the priests are hidden behind masks of silver, and even their hands are shrouded, that men may not gaze on them that have seen Mordiggian.""  The Carnel God By Clark Ashton Smith 

So right off the bat the town of Sudengrove becomes a smaller kingdom of  Zul-Bha-Sair. And here's where the addenture plot thickens; 

" The small town of Sudengrove has a big problem: something lurking in the underground sewers has been causing the disappearance of many men, women, and even children during the night! The locals have assembled a team of heroes to venture into the treacherous Slime Pits to unravel the mysteries, deadly traps, and the nefarious plans of the foul creatures that hide within. Lurking deep within the murky labyrinth, your ultimate challenge awaits: a battle against the malevolent sewer witch herself, Hagatha Toadsludge! Filthy riches await those who dare to challenge and survive the Slime Pits of the Sewer Witch!"














The issue is going to arrise with  Hagatha Toadsludge & her victims because while the Ghoul god cares not whose killed. The dead literally belong to him and undead are an abomination to the cult of Mordiggian. Undead sure are tasty! Technically the PC's could be hired by the temples of Mordiggian to clear out the Sewer  Witch. The Sewer Witch might be tolerated for a time until the cult has had it with people going missings. 
Preadventures involving the Sewer Witch might have her moving into the area bringing goblin minions with her. The PC's get hired by a town or the temple to clear her out. She seems destroyed only to move bases into a nearby area. When we reach the events of Mini adventure #2 she's violated the covenant between the humans and the Greater Ghouls by experimenting on the local populace. This comes on the heels of increasing goblin attacks in the area

This opens the adventurers to the events of Mini adventure two when the PC's come face to face with the Sewer Witch's experiments and the weirdness surround them. 
Then things get much more dire as the PC's get thier noses deep with the affairs of the Sewer Witch. And then things are going to go from bad to worse. Maximum Mayhem Dungeons - Mini Adventure #2: Slime Pits of the Sewer Witch is going to pick right up from the events of the pre adventure meeting with the Slime Witch and then all Hell is going to break loose.  You can support the Kickstarter right here. 

OSR Review & Commentary - The Alcyone-class Interstellar Freighter by Michael Johnson With Art by Ian Stead For the Clement Sector Rpg & Cepheus Engine rpg powered games

 "The Alcyone-class Interstellar Freighter was one of several large Zimm-capable freighter designs that became increasingly widespread throughout colonized space during the First Interstellar Colonization Period and the very early colonization of Clement Sector. It is estimated that two hundred of the Alcyone-class ships were constructed before the increasing adoption of the far more efficient gravitic maneuver drive made them obsolete."




















The Alcyone-class Interstellar Freighter Written and designed by Michael Johnson. Art by Ian Stead. The Alcyone class is a historic interstellar frieghter for both the Clement & Earth sector rpg's. The frieghter was built to fill the ever expanding colonial need for such a starship and this is baked right into the ship's history; "The first interstellar diaspora of humanity began with the German colonization of a planet in the system of Alpha Centauri A in 2181, continuing rapidly until there were dozens of new colonies surrounding Earth. The new colonies, many of which were established on worlds hostile to human life, relied on supply for essential goods and materials that were unable to be produced in-system and delivery of those depended on transport companies operating starships. So great was the need for transports and freighters to supply the colonies that sublight spacecraft were hastily fitted with Zimm drives and pressed into service while purpose-built starships were being designed and constructed. These early freighters were in the main, quickly converted VASIMR (Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket) drive in-system haulers and transports placed into their new role by transport companies and entrepreneurial owner-captains eager to establish themselves early in what was going to be a lucrative trade environment."  The Alcyone-class Interstellar Freighter' is perfect for settling the Clement & Earth sector's history. These starships offered the best chance to settle the Earth & Clement sectors at a time when the Zim drive wasn't the standard.. yet. The Alcyone is pivotal to colonizing the frontier of the Clement sector because of the trails it blazed. These ships are also entrenched in the creation of the interstellar economy because of the resources they provided to the budding colonial interests from ferrying passengers to resources. These early starships had it all.

What makes ' The Alcyone-class Interstellar Freighter' so useful is the level of detail and well written background that we get on this colonial frieghter. And it's the support history is solidly written. This starship has a bit of it all because technically it could be used with any 2d6 rpg such as old school Traveller or Cepheus Engine. The Alcyone is well done and well written with a great layout, easy to read font, lovely diagrams, & easy to apply plans. The historic details of the Alycone class are well done making applying the ships into a campaign easily done.

































For the Clement sector the Alycone class frieghter is key for exploring the historical games of the past of the Clement sector. Wrecked or 'haunted' Alycone ships can be used as wrecked 'wagon' trains for the setting. Or the PC's escorting an Alycone to a museum as a part of a display when something happens. Are two of the hooks for this venerable class of starship. The 'Alcyone-class Interstellar Freighter' is a welcome class of starship because it shows a window into the history and rich background of the Earth & Clement sector's on going struggles to settle the Black. There's a ton of potential for this historical class in your 2d6 Cepheus powered campaigns. The Alcyone-class Interstellar Freighter is available  from Independence Games. 

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

My Thoughts On The Passing of James M. Ward - A Legacy of Writing and Mentoring

 

James Ward (1952 to 2024) has passed on late last night. And I'm still trying to wrap my head around his passing. Personally, I can't even begin to process this passing. Jim was instrumental in the creation of OD&D's "Gods, Demigods, and Heroes" with Robert Kuntz. Mr. Ward's contribution to Dungeons & Dragons was huge. From the updated and expanded  "Deities & Demigods," for first edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragona to a boat load of NPC's. Not to mention his contribution to the AD&D first edition campaign setting of Greyhawk 'Greyhawk Adventures'. The impact of this book can't be overstated on the Greyhawk campaign setting. 




Jim's contributation to the world was his creation of  the amazing "Metamorphosis Alpha"  the first science-fantasy role-playing game, and co-created “Gamma World,” which pioneered the post-apocalyptic subgenre in TTRPGs. Back in '08 "Metamorphosis Alpha" hit me right square between the eyes. His promotion of his MA game was key to us communicating and Jim was the guy who really pulled me into Castles & Crusades. Mr.Ward was knowledgable, outgoing, and very vocal about his game design & writing. 
We emailed & Facebook messaged back and forth. Jim had no problem answering questions or chatting about games. He was someone who wanted you to play his games. Yes, he was a giant in the hobby but he was a geniunely nice guy. He will be missed. So I'm really trying to process this loss to our hobby, the world, and even the Ward family. 
James Ward was a geniunely nice guy and a giant of the hobby. His presence in the world made it a better place, his writng and design work made this hobby incredible for some many of us kids, and his passing has been felt by everyone whom had interaction with. My respects & condolences to the Ward family, his many fans,  his friends, and collegues. 

Monday, March 18, 2024

Pig Pen - - A Wretched Country By the Red Room & NightOwl Workshop's Gunslinger - Session Report 2

 The PC's wiped out a bunch of Orcs of the Bloody Hand tribe of pig faced Orcs. And the Orcs rooted after two dynamite bundles were pitched into thier midst. We then retreated out of Scorpion Canyon and back to town to restock & resupply. This session picks right up from here.



We began to hear the drummings of more Orcs and local indian scouts put the Bloody Hand's number at at least three hundred. Why?! Why was there a force of over three hundred Orcs moving on the town?! The Indian scouts think that this is merely a scouting & exploratory army moving in. The scouts and our ranger also think that there's at least 6 or more wizards or shamans among the Orcs.
 Bill Tenison Arizona Ranger  & his companions  made their way into the canyon again but didn't see any dimensional door or such. 
 We found two of our farmers and thier drovers pincushioned with hundreds of flint tipped arrows. The Blood Hand tribe of Orcs appears to be quite well adapted to the Old Western desert. Here I used a bunch of suggestions out of the Gunslinger rpg. 

Our posse came face to face with a group of Bloody Hand scouts being led by an Orc  shaman. Things got rather nasty as we got a huge smack down by two local spirits. These came straight out of Wretched Country rpg 

Our own Indian shamans and scouts made short work of the scouting party with little issue by sniping them from within the edges of the town.  The game can best be described as thematic at best. We slaughtered any orcs we saw and our scouts Moonface and Sunface went on the offensive. And found two half Orc assassins sculking around town. We ended here! 

Thursday, March 14, 2024

Don't Lose Your Head - Adapting Jospeh Mohr's Redemption Adventure to the Hostile Rpg

 "The Traveler(s) are summoned by messenger to speak with a discrete gentleman on a matter of utmost importance. He would prefer, for reasons which will become apparent later, to speak privately on this matter at the earliest convenience."

"He is Navy Commander Hut’Nur of the Olonsean Naval Intelligence Service. He has a mission of a delicate nature which he needs someone of your unique skills. He needs someone not affiliated with the Olonsean government or military to perform a rescue operation."



"While the Olonseans are not yet currently at war with the Ilsunsi Directorate just about everyone in the Sonora sector can see the handwriting on the wall. Hostilities are imminent. Both sides have been building up naval and land forces with the expectation of an all out shooting war beginning soon."

"Recently an Olonsean Army General disappeared. Whether he has defected, or has been snatched by the Ilsunsi, is not yet known. What is known, however, is that he has extensive knowledge of Olonsean military capabilities and plans. He is a decorated veteran of many previous military campaigns and is believed to be loyal to the Empire. But the Olonsean Government can not afford to take chances. They need this General to be “rescued” and brought back home again....for interrogation...."

So over the last twenty four hours I've been thinking about dealing with Hostile's Colony War  title. Back during the Second Recession there were two successful colonies The Olonseans and the Ilsuni Directorate colonies. These colonies are now at now at each other's throats because of recent events on Tau Ceti. Because of the growing tensions in the Solomons colony interests are heating up. This is where Redemption by Joseph Mohr comes into play.  The Olonseans are backed by Chinese corporate money which is the same as backing it with Chinese military assets. The PC's are going to be an extration team made up of some of the worst scum that the South Asain Orbital Prisons have to offer. The Ilsuni Directorate is of course a puppet colony with Tharis Heavy Industries at the wheel. 




































The prisoner's will be doing the extraction with a nanoneural bomb implanted in thier necks. Failure will result in a head parting company with it's neck if the mission isn't done in seventy two hours. The PC's are of course from  Zaibatsu and in the survivors will be taken into the September group of Russian mercenaries aka the Сентябрьская группа.



According to Redemption; "Olonsean intelligence forces have determined that he is being held on world known as Gumoran which is just beyond the borders of the Sonora sector. This world is a sparsely populated agricultural world off the beaten path. It has always been an independent world but many affluent individuals in the sector own large estates on this world. It generally has been considered sort of a retreat for the rich and famous of the sector who want to get away from it all. The general is believed to be held at an estate of a wealthy corporate officer of the Purgatory Corporation. This estate is believed to be guarded by at least a company of soldiers if not more. The Olonsean government does not wish to start the war just yet. They would prefer someone not linked to them to perform this mission and bring the general home." 
The PC's are going to go into cold storage for the voyage to Gumoran for 6 years. And then the countdown picks up right from when thier thawed out. Gumoran is a corporate retreat world with connections to the Purgatory corporation. The Purgatory corporation is going to be a secondary side quest with them taping and selling information gleaned from the dreams of thier clients and then being sold on. The information is being stored in the cyberspace cloud of Gumoran. Meanwhile the general is being bled by the Purgatory corporation and it's taken it's toil;" The general is no longer in his right state of mind. The torture and abuse at the hands of the Ilsunsi have brought him to the breaking point." 
The 
 Olonsean government wants to brain wipe him and then reprogram him as a double agent before turning him back to  the Ilsuni Directorate. The Olonseans & the Isuni Directorate colonies have been dancing around each other for the past 9 years.