Sunday, June 30, 2013

Splatter Punk 70's & 80's Post Apocalyptic Horror Campaign Sundown Edition - Cemeteries of The Dead Part Two Over At The Dark Corner Blog

Daylight encounters in the dangerous wilderness of the cemeteries of the 'Supernaturalypse'? Featuring new monsters, weird encounters, giant cybernetic stone angels? Check it out right over HERE!File:La Recoleta Cemetery by Mardetanha 1925.JPG

Saturday, June 29, 2013

Hartford Betamax Black Book Edition Stars Without Number Campaign Influence- Space Adventure Cobra

Introduction 
I'll say it before and I'll say it again. Part of my brain feels as though its work,errmm still working in a back alley video rental place someplace near China Town in Boston back in 1990 something.  When I was working there 'Anime' or 'Japanmation' was a big deal and just starting to come into the states. I used to travel between Boston where my job was and Connecticut on the weekends mostly to see my folks and to do some serious table top role playing. Back then I went down to 'Fathers and Sons in Manchester' Ct. for 'Anime night'. I used to arrive Friday and spent the weekend. Game, hang out, see friends, and go watch anime. Then early Monday morning, five am hot foot it back to Boston for work. Yeah, yeah, I was completely nuts. Anyhow, back then an old favorite was on the rotation of the VHS cassettes. I used to recommend it as a rental as well.
 Space Adventure Cobra was/is an old favorite. Sort of a combo of Total Recall, shiny metal cyborg goodness, and ultra violence. 


According to Wiki 
Set in the far future, the series tells of a man called Cobra, who lived an adventurous life until his enemies began to hunt him down. Cobra surgically altered his face and erased his own memory in order to hide from his foes and lead a normal life. He soon regains his memories and re-unites with his old partner Lady Armaroid and his ship Tortuga. Cobra travels the galaxy, fighting the outlaw Pirate Guild, but also fleeing the law-enforcing Milky Way Patrol. Along with his charm and wit, Cobra survives thanks to his Psycho-Gun, a weapon embedded in his left arm.

Cobra tankou vol 1.jpg
Main Plot According To Wiki: 
"Some time in the far future, an office worker named Johnson leads a dull and mundane life. One Sunday morning his robotic servant, Ben, suggests that he go to the Trip Movie Corporation, a company that enables their customers to experience a dream as if it were real. Johnson asks to be the king of a harem, surrounded by beautiful women, and commanding a battlestar.
In his dream, Johnson becomes "Cobra", an adventurer who explores space with hisandroid partner Lady Armaroid. Cobra wields the "Psycho-Gun" to fight against monsters from other planets and against the Pirate Guild. After a battle with the Guild, Cobra allows the leader, Captain Vaiken, to escape. Vaiken distributes Cobra's picture to all the other pirates, making him a wanted man. After the dream ends, Johnson describes the fantasy to an attendant, who is surprised since it should have been about being the king of a harem with no reference to pirates or the infamous Cobra.
On his way back home, Johnson crashes into a speeding car. Coming face-to-face with the driver, he is astonished to notice that the man looks identical to Captain Vaiken. When Johnson mentions the resemblance, the driver reveals himself as Vaiken. Vaiken asks Johnson about "Cobra" and even threatens to kill him if he does not answer. Johnson then unconsciously lifts his arm as if he has a gun, and shoots a ray out of his hand, killing Vaiken. The shot blows up his arm, revealing the Psycho-Gun embedded in it
Johnson hurries home, where Ben notices the weapon on his arm. Johnson then realizes that he does not remember anything from before the last three years in which he has lived in his house. After looking into a mirror, he finds and turns a knob to reveal a secret room. There he finds a revolver which he used in his dream. At that moment, armed intruders break into the house and address him as "Cobra". In the course of the battle, Ben's robot shell breaks to reveal Cobra's comrade-in-arms, Lady Armaroid, and together they kill the intruders.
Johnson starts to remember his previous existence as Cobra. Hunted by the Pirate Guild for meddling in their criminal enterprises, he soon tired of his life on the run, surgically altered his face and had his memories erased. Lady Armaroid tells Cobra that the Trip Movie has apparently triggered his sub-conscious to bring back his old memories. Together, they resume their life of adventure."

Mining Cobra For Stars Without Numbers 
Between the television show, the comics, the movies, and everything else. There's enough cyborg action to keep any shiny campaign going for year or more. The idea of the memory impaired adventurers is an old one but one well worth mining. Then there are all of the tech level four/five cybernetics systems in here that can be used. Not to mention the huge anime style megadugeon space craft then round it out with the the minor npc characters that can renamed and re gigged and your in for an anime style action fest. 

Lady Amaroid was always an old favorite of mine and I wanted to really get into the technology behind her. There's an adventure waiting to be written just on her. 
Since the series of comicbooks ran according to wiki from 1978 to 1984/85. The series falls right smack into the heart of this series.
According to wiki:
The serialized form of Cobra originally appeared the Japanese shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump during 1978–1984. The individual chapters were collected and published in 18 tankōbon volumes by Shueisha.


The truth is that certain elements of this anime will be incorporated post haste into the Talon sector really soon! Meantime here's a bit of the intro to the television series. 
Support And Beyond!
Watch The Entire Movie  From 1995 Legally Right Over HERE
Check out The Wiki Entry Right HERE

Friday, June 28, 2013

Hartford Betamax Black Book Edition Stars Without Number Campaign Influence- Marvel Treasury Edition - 2001 A Space Odyssey Comic Book



Introduction 
Back when I was a kid this book was given to me. The 1968 space epic '2001 A Space Odyssey' was and is one of my all time favorite movies.
This comic was given to me by one of my all time favorite movies. I'm a devotee of Diversions Of The Groovy Kind Blog and found that those wonderful folks posted the entire comic for us fans! They go into a brief history of the comic with the following: 
"Yeah, the all-time, art-house, critically-acclaimed 1968 sci-fi epic from MGM was, to put it mildly, a BIG THING during the Groovy Age (especially pre-Star Wars). And so, natch, was Jack Kirby. When Jack returned to Marvel Comics in 1976, one of the most spectacular announcements was the fact that the King was going to adapt 2001 for Marvel's tabloid-sized Treasury Edition line. Dunno how it came about, seeing that this adaptation was 8 years after the flick premiered, but Marvel and MGM got it all together, turned Jack loose (aided and abetted by inker Frank Giacoia, letterer John Costanza, and colorist Marie Severin)."


Since they paid it forward to me I'm paying it forward to you folks!
You see the whole thing right over
HERE

This is pretty much the look of my Stars Without Numbers campaign right there in one shot. The comic dynamic, the concepts mind blowing, and whole thing cosmic weird! 
Big thanks to Marvel and 'The Diversions of The Groovy Kind' Blog! 

Hartford Betamax Black Book Edition Stars Without Number Campaign Influence- Rumble On ReA 'Brura Actual Play or Hex Crawling Interstellar Style



Introduction 


The party is hex crawling through the system. This world HERE has their interest.
They're running low on options and ammo. They've really tried to conserve as much as they could. They witnessed 'Space Vikings' operations as the Ice Walkers and Mi Go forces dealt with each other around 
ReA 'Brura The Back Alley Battlefield moon. Things got a bit dicey when the PC's waited for the Ice Walkers to depart. 


 The Mi Go went about their business as well and the PC's decided that caution was the better part of valor.
  The PC's ran sensor scans of the area where the Mi Go and Ice Walkers had been. They discovered a Minor Pyramid of Lom. The thing's insane AI was offline and several minor functions were running the thing as its holo projectors began to hide it among the gas giant's clouds once again.
The party's hacker began the very careful task of trying to hack into its systems. After several heated dice throws he succeeded! 



Then the thing became active and a hazard. Systems came on line, the x ray laser cannon arrays came out and the spike drives became active.
Its primary mission of  harvesting psychic products for the greater glory of  Nyarlathotep lit up its artificial undead bio brain drive systems!
The beast had awakened and was about to head out into the void to the nearest human colony!
 The PC's became engaged in a running battle with the horror from beyond damned stars. That's when they dropped a mini nuke torpedo on the pyramid!
The resulting explosion crippled it and left it to fall back into the gas giant's gravity well. The Lovecraftian predators of the world became attracted to the radiation like sharks to a pool of blood.
 The PC's encountered a Yithian time probe which seemed to watch the battle with keen interested. They had never encountered the tech level 5 brass and golden artifacts of the Great Race. The party was dumb founded but in no shape to truly investigate further.

 File:HD209458b Osiris.jpg
 The battle left the PC's ship in need of refueling. They did however manage to copy the data core of the pyramid learning a bit of the secrets of this damned system.
 There were several secret refueling stations nearby left from after the "Extinction Wars". These automated stations are gathering organic compounds and turning them into usable fuels. They are active but hidden. Who knows what horrors still lurk on
these reserves of hidden power and peril.
 The current system they're 'exploring' is right over HERE

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Artist Of The Day - Bree Orlock Over At The Dark Corner Blog


Whose one of the best kept secrets in graphic design for horror rpgs and has artwork over at the Dark Corner Blog? Why Bree Orlock! 
Take a look at her artwork right over HERE !

Hartford Betamax Black Book Edition Stars Without Number Campaign Influence- ReA 'Brura 'The Back Alley Battlefield' Moon

Introduction 


'There are places that mankind wasn't meant to go and this is one of them!'
Last words of Colonial William Prichard  of USS  Vengeance 
ReA 'Brura The Back Alley Battlefield moon is a silent and dead world where some of the deadliest fighting of the 'Extinction Wars'  took place. A minor gas giant world created from the last battle of ReA 'Brura. Here the fighting was so fierce that "Impelor Weapons' were used.  This weapons use mini singularity effects to blow holes within the local space time continuum.
At least twenty  million or more space marines and allied human forces were wiped out as several Outer Gods and their minions were also caught within the range of the weapons. The system was also complete rearranged as worlds were obliterated and a new one was born. This world isn't without its taint however. Jellies, molds, and mist created from a combination of the dead psychic residue of humanity and the Outer Gods themselves.
The world itself is now mostly forgotten except by adventurers who wish to try and sky mine the incredibly potent treasures of rich exotic organic soups and gases.
Thrillus Brain Parasites, Exotic Slimes, Jellies, and incredible alien mist life forms haunt the place. Ships traveling here risk the crushing gravity, floating life forms, and their star ship hulls being destroyed by organic acid or worse. ReA 'Brura  is a haunted world and it keeps its secrets from prying eyes. 

1d10 Random 
 ReA 'Brura Finds and Encounters 
  1. A wrecked star destroyer floating within the damned winds. There is a 25% chance of treasure aboard and 20% chance of encountering zombies or undead.
  2. A strange amalgamation of dead souls,slime, and bits of Outer God flying through the atmosphere. The 11 hit point thing will do 1d4 points of damage as its tendrils dissolve most things it hit hits. It has an Armor Class of 9 but reforms entire sections of itself within 2 rounds. 
  3. Whirling razor sharp bits of star ship and other unidentified metal that form into insane elemental things for a moment only to be  broken apart moments later.These things do 5 points of damage each time they form near PC's. Certain psychic keys and the like can break them however. 
  4. A deserted alien city flies on damned winds there is a 20% chance of encountering artifacts. This place is haunted by Dimensional Shamblers or worse drain by the howling of the damned souls. 
  5. 'An ancient temple of the Outer Gods shifts on the gas giant's winds. There is a 60% chance of tech level 4 artifacts and they are guarded by a spawn of Nyarlathotep. The place sends off a mad radio signal into the black void.
  6. Two minor children of the Outer Gods are trying to form from the remains of several tons of human and worse remains. The blind, idiot thing is trying to pull itself apart and birth itself. The process is an abortion however and it only succeeds in creating a hazard of the worst kind. Any psychics must make a save or be driven insane for 1d4 rounds. There are 1d6 Mi Go Warriors trying to assist in the birth process. The thing tumbles back into the hell spawned winds of this world. 
  7. An ancient veiled priest has exiled himself aboard his star ship and uses his gravity generators to resist this world's incredibly dangerous world. He will offer assistance to travelers he encounters however within 1d6 days his void clone will try and destroy anyone he encounters. The greed bastard has several tech five artifacts aboard. He's quite damned and doesn't understand why. He is also a cannibal of the worst stripe. 
  8. A 10 hit point probe of the Great Race of Yith searching for artifacts and victims to take back to the time travelers. A laser like weapon does 1d4 points of damage and is able to bypass most armor easily. These things have spread among the various worlds of this system. 
  9. A 10 hit point jelly and mold colony. It will do 1d6 points of damage per round and has an armor class of 8. The thing will eat anything it encounters. There is a 40% chance of its actions attracting 1d6 more of its brethren to the feast. 
  10. A Star Spawn of Cthulhu slowly feeds upon the remains of a capital ship locked outside normal space time. There are over twenty separate tech level five artifacts seen aboard the ship as it spins in the void. It is forever locked outside of normal space time.  The thing could be reached with a spike drive 2 or better. This will free the Spawn and its Mi Go followers who are within the husk of the ship! 
     There is a 60% chance of this world being moved by the Outer Gods and its rich monstrous forces being needed else where in the universe. Few know that there is fully functioning Mi Go battle world within the clouds here! It is held here by an ancient curse. The thing is rife with tech level four artifacts of an organic nature of the MiGO!
     For each day spent within this world's atmosphere there is a 40% of encountering some random Lovecraftian horror suited for life among the clouds of the damned! 

    'The Battle of Back Alley' was named for the human fleet's tactic of stopping a Lom Battle Fleet Pyramids by detonating a planar device within each of their Spike drives. This tactic created the sacrifice necessary to stop the Outer God's slave machine minds from wiping out nine worlds of human and allied alien forces. This even created a planar back alley into the system. A bubble of non reality connecting six different planar dimensional locations that never had intersection with each other. Various truly weird technological artifacts show up in nearby interstellar markets. 
File:HD209458b Osiris.jpg

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Hartford Betamax Black Book Edition Stars Without Number Campaign- The United Nations Space Forces Hegemon Faction








Introduction 
After the events on Earth's Moon and the uncovering of the 'Monolith' as well as the most important radio broad cast in the history of mankind. Newer forces were needed to combat the ever deteriorating situation from hostile alien forces. Shado was one of first to operate behind the scenes but it was soon joined by others. 

The United Nations Space Forces were formed after a series of successful reverse engineering projects of alien space craft and the situation on Venus back in the early 2000's. The 'UNSF' proved itself again and again in many areas from underwater warfare with the 'Argon' Incident to the  'Venus War'. 

When mankind spread among the stars into the Talon Sector. The 'UNSF' was right along side them combing centuries of military might and space engineering know how. 


 The 'UNSF' is known for its distinctive star ship designs and willingness to bring the fight to hostile forces of all stripes. During the Stroke they were especially hard hit with a full 45% of their psychics having been destroyed by the psychic backlash. Since this crippling blow they have had to rely on outmoded and tried spacecraft designs. The distinctive spike drive fins are always seen on their ships.

Current Situation 
Before the 'Extinction Wars' the UNSF was dealing with is own colonies and was caught in a crushing genocidal wave by superior Outer God races. They lost a full third of these colonies but since then have formed a highly successful Hegemon empire. They're mercenaries are in high demand throughout the Talon sector.
They have become bastions of lost technologies including level four and five artifacts. They mantain a tech  level four manufacturing base boarding on five. 

The UNSF leads half a dozen worlds in a voluntary confederation that seeks to expand and protect humanity as well as their allies from 'The Mythos' forces. 

The United Nations Space Forces Hegemon Faction 

Attributes :
Forces 8, Cunning 5, Wealth 7 
Hit Points 49 
Space Marine Forces 6, Planetary Defenses/Forces 6, Blockade/Fleet/Forces 5, Extended Theater Force 4, Pretech Manufacturing/ Wealth 6, Shipping Combine/ Wealth 4, Trip Wire Cells/Cunning 4, Cyberninja/Cunning 3,
Tags: Deeply Rooted, Imperialists 


Loved this movie as a kid ! 



Monday, June 24, 2013

New Pacific Rim Trailer And Commentary.



 Pacific Rim clicks all of the buttons so far for me including Giant Robots, Lovecraftian  Giant monsters,really awesome looking action. Did I mention the "Giant Freaking Robots! 
 Just in case you missed the other trailers for the movie here they are!

 There's certainly an 'Evangelion' vibe about this film without the extensional angst that seemed to have been writ large in that anime. I'm reminded of  the 'Cthulhutech' rpg while viewing these. Yet,there's a bit of Gamera in the monsters more then 'Godzilla' here. 

This looks like its going to be one of those films that is going to have to be seen on the big screen. I expect that in the coming months we're going to see a wave of rpgs that will emulate this film if its a hit!
 Personally I can't wait!  So its looking very interesting to say the least. 

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Review And Commentary On Teratic Tome From Neoplastic Press


 Introduction
A DM can never have to many monsters. There are to many occasions where something special is needed especially for a science fantasy style game where Lovecraftian nastiness is the rule and not the exception.
That's where this book comes in ' The Teratic Tome' is geared straight up for Osric and most retroclones but there are a myriad of reasons to spend the 6.66 dollars for it. 

The truth is that the book is an excellent bargain for those with particular needs for their Dungeon mastering such as myself. 
The book is well laid out with a ton of old school style artwork and monsters that have tendrils in nasty places, claws in more, and breasts galore!
Reviewer Timothy B brings up a very solid point about this book as well. According to him, "What do you get? Well a lot. Let's start with some of the things that others have not all mentioned first. This book is 100% OGC. So if you want to use one of these horrors in one of your products go right ahead. Just abide by the OGL. There are a lot of reasons why you might want to use these monsters too. They are some of the most original horrors I have seen outside of indie horror games. "

That's right the book is 100% OGC and your free to plunder its contents to your heart's consent as long as you site the author and book! That's reason enough to get deep into this one! 
 You can get this book for OSRIC Right Over
HERE
However there's much, much more!

The Description From DriveThruRpg :
This enchiridion of entities should only be used by DMs inclined towards malfeasance, sadism, and base wrongdoing.
Torn from the pages of the Books of Pandemonium, these horrific fiends -- including the grotesquely talented Curhadac, the sadistic Eremite, and the death-singing Acronical -- will test the mettle of any adventuring party.
Teratic Tome is an OSRIC-compatible bestiary featuring:
* Strange variants: Brine orc, gelatinous pyramid, and azure slime
* Undead: Ivory banshee, demimondaine, ash ghast, and verminated zombie
* New threats: Remnants, karkinoi, pontiffs, craanoi, and ingenues
* Unique entities: Baskra, Lunamic, Malchior, Pantagruel, and the Seamstress
The fact is that many of these monsters are incredibly nasty, very dangerous, and incredibly epic! The author does a really nice job of laying out some flavor that is very 80's AD&D and that's one of this book's strengths!

Because these are laid out in Osric these beauties will work with many retroclones on the market with little to some modification! That means this book has plug and play Lovecraftian monsters for your adventures. The layout makes this book a bargain and easy to navigate on a variety of formats.
 All in all I'm pretty pleased with the book! That's because it does exactly what it sets out to do. Gives some really nasty monsters in a very specific way and does it with style.

The Science Fantasy Angle
 

Because of the nature of this beastie your going to want to understand that many of these Lovecraftian horror  shows share more of a linage with Clive Barker's ilk then the traditional. There's lots and lots of nasty 'body horror' style monsters here.
That means that with a bit of modification these beasts can crawl through your local space wreck as well as your local dungeon temple.
There are two real stand out areas of monsters here. The demons and the dragons are incredibly well done. They can fit a variety of environments that seem to drip with slime or worse. Think Dagoba from Empire Strikes back as one possible setting for these types. They might not be out of place in a Carcosa game setting as well. 

Some of the other monsters might fit into an alien city ala some of the OSR modules of recent memory. Then if your to need a something special this might be just the book for you. 

Ten reasons To Use The Teratic Tome
  1. There's always that one smarmy players who thinks he knows each and every creature. Time to pull this bad boy out and give him a slime covered surprise. 
  2. Some of these  beasts are truly deserving and could fit a horror game very easily. Suddenly AD&D first edition 'Silent Hill' is a possibility.
  3. Because of the nature of these monsters they make perfect fodder for both a post apocalypse world, or a failed colony with a mutation variation to throw in. 
  4. These monsters make perfect guardians for technologically based treasures especially of a bio mechanical nature. Some might also serve as unuasual summoned monsters for your latest evil overlord. 
  5. As I said because of their retroclone nature of the book these guys make perfect pawns for the Lords of Order or Chaos. 
  6. This book packs quite a bit in for the buck every page of the one hundred and twenty pages offers all kinds of 'body horror' goodness. 
  7. Its well written and offers several variations on the classics of the Monster Manual. Hell even the gnomes are evil. 
  8. DM shouldn't take this book lightly. This is a total party killer if not used carefully .The challenge levels are easy to deal with. 
  9. With some work these can be used with a wide array of retroclone games on the market. They allow one to add a bit of the 'Thing' , 'Body horror' flare to many tradition settings. 
  10. This isn't a kid friendly book. These monsters are horrid, dangerous, and some are downright disturbing. This makes this book a perfect adult horror OSR resource without the bull associated with 'Vile book' sort of product. 

Hartford Betamax Black Book Edition Stars Without Number Campaign Influence- The Hrrrrtiru're - The Grave Yard Worlds












Introduction 

' After the  return of the Mighty Messenger(
Nyarlathotep) during the Atomic Wars of Old Earth the Ascension of Humanity happened  into the great Machine Minds.  This was where some of the most dangerous and twisted examples of the human mind were nurtured in the Great Black Pyramids of Lem in the Beta Cluster. 
Then came the time when the black pyramids released their Twisted Ones back upon the star spanning colony worlds of mankind. Many of the familiar worlds were changed into gas giants as humanity was converted into a usable form. Humanity were killed by the billions during these 'Extinction Wars'.'Revelations of the Blind Spacer 24th century

These worlds known as 
The Hrrrrtiru're or The Grave Yard Worlds are rich in both artifacts and life giving chemicals as well as fuel sources. As mankind crawls from the mire of near extinction. These worlds have become very important. There are still myriad Outer Gods watching these worlds for their own horrid purposes. 



1d10 Random The Grave Yard Worlds Finds and Encounters  
  1. Space wreck with 1d8 valuable artifacts aboard. 45% chance of Mi Go warriors and a hive ship. 
  2. A gas soup of organic worth 40,000 credits. Very dangerous winds around this patch of clouds. 
  3. Insane Ghosts of humanity are attached to your ship. Please make a saving throw as insane thoughts fill your head and you experience the end of humanity here at the hands of the Outer Ones all over again. 
  4. A single ruined city flying through the atmosphere of this gas giant. 30% chance of radioactive hazards or worse. There are 1d8 dimension shamblers moving across the face of these ruins. 
  5. A psychic echo of a cult of Great Old One worshipers chanting to their damned gods. The chanting fills computers, gear, and ship board systems passes in 1d4 hours. 
  6. A 10 hit point probe of the Great Race of Yith searching for artifacts and victims to take back to the time travelers. A laser like weapon does 1d4 points of damage and is able to bypass most armor easily. 
  7. An amalgam undead monster made up of over forty to fifty humanoids. This 6 hit dice nightmare will attack anything it can get its claws onto. It does 1d4 points of damage and there is a 40% chance of it carrying an alien disease. Armor class is 8 however but it regenerates as a troll. 
  8. 'An ancient temple of the Outer Gods shifts on the gas giant's winds. There is a 60% chance of tech level 4 artifacts and they are guarded by a spawn of Nyarlathotep. The place sends off a mad radio signal into the black void. 
  9. A minor black pyramid of Lom is still functioning. This 10 hit point nightmare is armed with 1d30 xray lasers each capable of doing 1d4 points of damage. It has an armor class of 6 and is protected by 8 hit point nano shield walls. Each has an insane AI mind aboard that will blast a warning out to its dark master. 
  10. A star spawn of Cthulhu huddles around some very valuable alien exotic metals. Worth 20,000 credits or more. There is a 20% chance of more of its damned and dangerous ilk lurking nearby! 

File:HD209458b Osiris.jpg

 Many of these worlds are still within the Chasm near The Talon sector. Human adventurers are desperate and daring enough to begin to explore the space around some of these damned worlds. They sometimes have been known to move with the whims of the Outer Gods. There have been reports of these worlds existing in three place or more at once. These reports are seen as urban myth and spacer legend. 

Friday, June 21, 2013

Grab Mark Ellis's THE SPUR: LOKI'S ROCK & Cryptozoica Free Over At Amazon!

Photo: And ALSO free for Kindle today (and exclusive to Amazon) is THE SPUR: LOKI'S ROCK! If you're a fan of FIREFLY, DEFIANCE or my OUTLANDERS AND DEATHLANDS books, you don't wanna pass this up!

http://tinyurl.com/byxjs9P/

Get'em while you can free over at Amazon! 
Author Mark Ellis has two of his novels free for Kindle. If you've been curious to check out Mark's work, The Spur: Loki's Rock (http://www.amazon.com/The-Spur-Lokis-Rock-ebook/dp/B009GI3V6M/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1354914427&sr=8-2&keywords=The+Spur%3A+Loki%27s+Rock) and Cryptozoica (http://www.amazon.com/Cryptozoica-ebook/dp/B0055E70RM/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1371850947&sr=1-6) are free at Amazon for a limited time. Get 'em while their hot!
And ALSO free for Kindle today (and exclusive to Amazon) is THE SPUR: LOKI'S ROCK! If you're a fan of FIREFLY, DEFIANCE or my OUTLANDERS AND DEATHLANDS books, you don't wanna pass this up!

Photo: Due to popular demand (Melissa demanded it and she's popular), starting at 12:00 AM EST on Friday the 21st and running until 11:59 PM Saturday the 22nd, CRYPTOZOICA is free for Kindle download! If you haven't picked it up yet, this is your  chance!

Pick it up here: http://tinyurl.com/ct3tfnz

Hartford Betamax Black Book Edition Stars Without Number Campaign- Blood And Stars Actual Play Part II

Quick Overview of Tonight's Hartford Betamax Stars Without Numbers Game
Introduction 
After recovering most of their party from various parts of the colony world of Londinuim. The PC's raced around various lockers, hangers, and locations to recover about ninety percent of the treasure and relics they had aquired twenty years ago!
A group of weird android warriors began to pursue the party through the narrow back streets of the colony world!
 
After hooking up back at their ship the party began to reequip as soon as possible and making preparations to leave the colony world asap.
Meanwhile out on a very remote backwater gas giant  moon  of the Mirror's Edge section of the Talon Sector a single FTL transmission began to beam itself as a computer aboard a single shuttle began the task of awakening the sleep pod aboard a single escape shuttle craft!
 
Deep  In The Jocus System 

One of the PC's finds himself coming out of hypersleep pods as his shuttle is caught within the ionosphere of a gas giant moon. His ship is surrounded by two Capital class star destroyers who are looking for the data cores belonging to the PC! 

The Jocus system was/is a remote system used for weapons testing during the 'Extinction wars' . The system consists of 8 worlds surrounded by gas giant moons which orbit so close together that they share atmospheres.

 Between the gravity and the wild weather it was very hair raising for the PC! Piloting rolls were needed to jump from moon to moon while sticking to the storms of the planets to avoid the war ships until help arrived in the form of the party! 

 The party's ship took three days to drill into the system and then began the task of playing hide and seek with the Capital class destroyers. They learned the hard way that there were still "Singularity mines" in orbit around some of the planets in the systems. Not to mention the rail gun satellites still floating in orbit around the ruins of some of the facilities that once graced some of the moons in the systems!

 Finally after four days of game time and some quick combat rolls the PC's hooked up! That's when a warning beacon went off and froze the party in its collective tracks. The Space Viking clan arrived! The Ice Walker clan entered the stage!
That's where we ended! 
Will the Superior Intellects prevail? 

1d10 Random Encounters In The  Jocus System 

  1. 1d4 Space going war droids looking for ships to loot for spare parts and victims! 
  2. 1d8 war sats carrying out practice runs for war situations that never occurred  They will fight among themselves and ignore PC's unless attacked. 
  3. An  A.I.controlled  capital class destroyer war ship that thinks its a good and wants to be worship and placated with offers as well as attention. 
  4. A group of undead zombies locked in an escape pod that tumbles through space. Should they be let out they are highly infectious and hungry. 
  5. A small atomic bomb controlled by a morbid A.I. that wants to be a star  and rather soon. 
  6. A swarm cloud of nanobot weapons that will dissemble a small vessel in moments. 1d4 points of damage each round exposed to the cloud. 
  7. A group of alien elements created from the weather on some of the gas giants. Max hit points. 
  8. A small probot looking to track down a group of determined rebels and programmers. The thing is armed with a small  laser blaster cannons each doing 1d4 points of damage with a thirty yard radius. 
  9. A spawn of Cthulhu has awakened up this moon and will be very,very, hungry! 
  10.  A small scale cult of Hastur is looking for sacrifices. These desperate and very dangerous people who are the equip with superior technological level four stuff. They are the equivalant of 4th level fighters!

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Hartford Betamax Black Book Edition Stars Without Number Campaign- Blood And Stars Actual Play!

Introduction 


The stars echo with blood and thunder! The worlds of men tremble as a new chapter is writ among the stars once again! 

Quick plot outline 
It has been twenty years since the 'Extinction Wars' have made the skies over worlds boil with plague, death, and the darkness of insanity. Mankind in all his myriad forms is only starting to crawl from the the depths of depravity! 
This is a time when adventurers are needed and only they hold the light of Promise for the worlds of man! 
 A party of adventurers and madmen known as the "Highway men" are only one of a hand full of legends that now shines their light again! But one of their number floats around a gas giant of hellish aspect lost to his fellows deep within Their territories! 
A clan of Gene Sliced Space Vikings Raiders holds one of their number's ship within their borders! 

File:Powerfull berserker viking warrior.jpg

Gene Sliced Space Vikings Raiders
No Appearing 1d8
Armor Class: 2 
Hit Dice: 3
Attack Bonus: +3 
Damage: 2d8 Energy Spear 
Skill Bonus:+1 
Saving Throw 15+
Movement: 30'
Morale:11 
Gene Spliced Warriors from beyond the stars who came in their 'long boat ships' from across the stars. Armed with energy spears, custom power armor, and vibro axes of incredible power these warriors divide themselves into clans and houses. They use merchants, traders, and who next works of spies to weave themselves through out the known universe picking out the richest worlds for plunder and more!

And so the saga continues! More later!  

Influences 



This sound track as well!