"Terra Arisen is a space-opera setting for the Cepheus Deluxe sci-fi RPG rules.  Terra Arisen introduces player characters to the immediate aftermath of the Terran Liberation War against the mighty Reticulan Empire and its many thralls. The Terrans forced the Reticulan Empire to sign a humiliating peace treaty and reluctantly accept Terran independence from the Empire. The upstart Terrans, bolstered by their victory against their old masters, are becoming a power to be reckoned with in interstellar affairs. On a backdrop of espionage, maneuvering, and saber-rattling on new interstellar frontiers, bold player characters can leave their marks as heroes or villains of the new United Terran Republic (UTR). This book provides background information, a 16 by 20 hex star-map covering most of the UTR and some alien territory, and write-ups of all 120 major worlds in this area, as well as other materials necessary to run a science fiction roleplaying campaign in the exciting times of the 23rd century."

This book contains:

• History and background material for 23rd century Terra and the larger universe.

• Corporations, political parties, and illegal groups a  both Terran and alien.

• 4 major alien species and several minor ones “ all detailed!

• Rules for generating and playing characters from 5 alien species.

• 7 alien Careers and 5 Terran ones - from psionic Reticulan Nobles to the heroic Terran Guard!

• Character generation rules and event tables for all included careers.

• 2 small craft and 5 starships with full game statistics and high-res deck plans.

• The Terran Quadrant, including 120 detailed worlds and a high-res star map.

• A detailed adventure chapter with a wide variety of hooks for exciting adventures in Terran and alien space!

Note that this book provides character generations, biological and cultural background, and flying saucers (!) for playing Gray Aliens a ready to drop into any Cepheus Deluxe campaign and quite compatible with other 2d6 sci-fi RPGs as well!

This setting requires the Cepheus Deluxe rules for use."

Terra Arisen Rpg Campaign Setting Omer Golan-Joel, Richard Hazlewood, & Josh Peters is one of those space opera's there's far more bubbling below the surface then at first it seems. The Terra Arisen setting is perfectly suited for the Cepheus Deluxe rules. Terra Arisen takes on humanity & it's alien allies rising up against their Reticulan oppressors in a series of rebellions that ultimately results in the establishment of the Terrran Quadrant.

Terra Arisen is a two hundred & eleven page book that wears its history, alien cultures, & background on it's sleeve. And in Terra Arisen these factors colours your PC's life events, careers, and other 2d6 Cepheus Deluxe rules & rolls during character creation. And this applies across the board for the aliens and the humans. This isn't exactly a Reticulan friendly game per say as the later generations of the hybrids and full blood Reticulans have come to question their own ancient empire's practices.
And Terra Arisen is a thinking DM's campaign setting with ton's of potential for the player's to step onto the interstellar stage of old sectors of the Reticulan Empires. Now in the hands of the their former slave races both human & alien. While Terra Arisen seems very woven into it's own campaign setting with its history, politics, sciences, technologies, etc. the setting is a fun one with plenty of opportunities  for military campaigns, interstellar merchant hi jinks, and much more all baked into the Cepheus Deluxe rules powered setting. Terra Arisen is a solid addition to the world of Cepheus Engine powered rules. The interstellar's scene is interesting. The ideas here are smartly done. And Terra Arisen is a campaign setting is one  that can do a wide variety of play styles.

The playground of the former Reticulan empire populated by their former client races is one of recent military victories. But the interstellar  parts & pieces still very much dangerous and not necessarily nice at all. Terra Arisen is a complex & multi dimensional interstellar political & unsettle frontier with its own rules, alien races, & wild edge bubbling just below the surface.

Terra Arisen has some solidly done star ships and the interior artwork is a mix of Pulp & Science Fictional styles that works for the 2d6 aesthetic of the Cepheus Deluxe rules powered material. The layout is crisp, easy to read, & ready to play. 

Terra Arisen is a campaign for the Cepheus Deluxe rules that is waiting to be played & played well.

Terra Arisen is a excellent addition to the the Cepheus Deluxe rules line of supplements & I for one can't wait to see the next line in the Terra Arisen family of books.

OSR Review & Commentary On Horde Wars Advanced D12 By Black Wall Games For the Horde Wars Rpg

 

"Horde Wars is a fast paced Medieval Fantasy D12 RPG! Horde Wars Advanced  covers all levels of play and over 200 Beasts, Monsters and NPCs to battle. Character creation rules, a starting adventure, sample town, and treasure generation tables are included. There are also chapters on sailing, domain play, and the setting" Horde Wars Advanced D12 By Black Wall takes everything you love about the Horde Wars rpg and notches into 'eleven' in many ways all based around the D12 mechanic! Play is fast, furious, and works very well with lots of brand new monsters and lots of familiar faces. Play here is modeled upon the familiar tropes of play of the world's most popular fantasy rpg but taken with it's own twists and turns. These make play very well designed and written so that Horde War Advanced D12 stands on it's own merits around the original Horde War rpg engine.

Horde Wars Advanced D12 By Black Wall Games takes the basic Horde War rpg & adds lots of new bells and whistle systems with character creation rules, a starting adventure, sample town, and treasure generation tables. This gets a HWA game going very quickly and highly responsibly allowing solid play in a compact set of rules that covers domain level play, sea battles, land warfare and set advanced dungeon crawling all around the D12 mechanic. This allows the game to take itself to the advanced point of play for OSR and old school gamers who are looking for an alternative rpg to the world's most popular fantasy rpg. Horde Wars Advanced works in a way that allows play to be steady, reliable, and with minimum fuss. Character creation is familiar and allows character customization while giving a completely playable character for advanced dungeon crawling. But is Horde Wars Advanced worth the price of admission?! In a word, yes! There's been a niche within the old school and OSR hobby for an alternative that allows a DM to take their Horde Wars rpg game to the advanced level of play.

OSR Review of The Sword of Cepheus Second Edition Rpg By Omer Golan-Joel, Josh Peters, & Richard Hazlewood From Stellagama Publishing

"A sorcerer blasting his enemies with the power of his mind. A muscled barbarian wielding a flaming sword against the local tyrant's thugs. A gladiator who freed himself from slavery wanders the land, righting wrongs and smashing villains. Big muscles, big swords, eldritch sorcery, powers of the mind, terrible beasts. From Burroughs to Howard to Moorcock to Italian Peplum films to those dreaming of outlandish post-apocalyptic worlds, heroes raise swords against corrupt nobles, inscrutable sorcerers, and alien monstrosities."

"The Sword of Cepheus is a roleplaying game in the triple  genres: Sword and Sorcery, Sword and Planet, and Sword and Sandal. In Sword and Sorcery, often-amoral protagonists face vile sorcery and horrid beasts as they complete awesome adventures for gold and glory. In Sword and Planet, humans finding themselves on barbaric or decadent alien planets use their superior brawn and valiant hearts to win fame, fortune, and the heart of an alien princeling. In Sword and Sandal, often set in a quasi-Biblical or faux-Roman world, men and women with sharp wits and strong sword-arms fight mythological creatures and overthrow tyrants. The common threads of all three genres are the blade-wielding protagonists who use their brawn, as well as brains, to fight foes both supernatural and mundane and undertake hair-raising, violent adventures."

The Sword of Cepheus Second Edition Rpg  By Omer Golan-Joel, Josh Peters, & Richard Hazlewood came my way this morning from Stellagama Publishing. Now the first thing I noticed was that the size of Sword of Chepheus has increased by it's page count to three hundred and seventy seven pages. This change shows the roll over into role playing into the triple  genres: Sword and Sorcery, Sword and Planet, and Sword and Sandal genres. This is now reflected into the PC's generation system with 12 archetypes, 12 races of non humans, careers, & more. The magic system seriously reflects the corruption, mutation, and more. This system of magick is plugged into the Genres of their category of Fantasy. Sword of Cepheus 2nd edition does an excellent job of capturing the lightning in a bottle aspects of Sword & Sorcery.

The Sword of Cepheus Second Edition Rpg plugs into it's 2d6 adventure subject matter with gusto enabling the DM to get into running adventures right away with a plethora of monsters and creatures. There's the usual suspects from the world's most popular fantasy rpg but there's something profoundly different in the presentation of these creatures. Because Sword is a complete rpg meaning you can buy the one book and get ready to run adventures!

Treasure goes through the gamut of treasures found in rpg's from rings to helms as well as plunder. The section is well thought out and there's even a magical mishap table for when things go really wrong with the treasure.

The encounter generating section is well done and has more then enough to get the players into trouble in a wilderness or a city. This is a really well done section with just enough randomness to create a campaign from the ground up. These encounters run from straight wilderness to complete urban areas. This section dovetails rather nicely into the NPC generation section.

Finally we get a rather nice Super Science section that rounds out The Sword of Cepheus Second Edition Rpg. However overall what do I think of Sword of Cepheus Second edition?! In a word, I really like the changes to the sections, the overall feel, and increases in the system. The whole package doesn't feel unwieldy instead it feels like an overall 2d6 system of improvement. I highly recommend Sword of Cepheus Second edition.

Amazing Adventures Rpg and The Battle Arena of Mr. Millennium By Mark Taormino - Session Report One

 'America's favorite wrestling champion has turned evil and declared himself the supreme ruler of the new world! He has established an ancient fortified wrestling arena and broadcast TV studio showcasing his Battle Royale where the winners will receive riches beyond their wildest desires and the defeated face death. Furthermore, he wields a sinister technology capable of mind control, using it to broadcast manipulative signals during the matches via his hypnotic theme song. '

These broadcasts transform unsuspecting viewers into contestants and devout followers, expanding his tyrannical empire. A brave group of heroes is needed to answer his challenge, infiltrate the deadly games, destroy the source of the broadcasts freeing the captives and finally confront him and his wicked wrestling minions to end this reign of terror once and for all in the Battle Arena of Mr. Millennium!'

 We were wrapping up in the nearby Village of the Burning Sun with the artifacts of the Chainbreakers biker gang from last session.  Our party distributed the artifacts to the village. The broadcast power was turned back on. The party's Amazing Adventures rpg PC's for tonight's  The Battle Arena of Mr. Millennium were on full wrestling mode as the party saw the transmission of Mr. Millennium's wasteland battle royale! 

 Our fellow adventurer 'The Manhattan Mauler' is completely fixated on the battle royal because he failed his saving throw. We started packing up and moving deeper into the wasteland urban landscape. We rolled on random encounters and ran straight into the remains of the Chainbreakers. We got into an extended fire fire with bows and arrows. The Chainbreakers were using obsidian headed arrows. This was in response to our using a light scout armor we found in the bowl-a- rama. 
We left the scout armor back in the village as a huge artifact. Our pair of Elven bowmen laid the smack down with a hail of arrows. But Oaken Leaf was injured by an arrow cutting deeply into his leg. We threw a hand grenade and fled deeper into  the urban landscape when we came across a healer outpost. 
A lizard man healer named Dr. Zaurous was on staff and brought in Oaken Leaf. We paid with two medicine kits and the PC will be out of commission for a month. We stayed the night at a local inn directly opposite of the healer outpost. 

OSR Review & Commentary Castles & Crusades The Hallowed Ring By Stephen Chenault For The Castles & Crusades Rpg

 "It is a hard thing to cross the plains. The land is flat and seems limitless. The wind is forever blowing. The wild grass stretches on forever, until it mingles with the pale skies. Where one begins and the other ends is anybody's guess. Tt is easy to become disoriented, lost or turned around, and fall prey to the sun, wind or any of the many creatures who stalk the flat earth."

"Somewhere on this unforgiving landscape lies the body of a man ravaged by hunting beasts. He holds in his possession an amulet, a trinket really, but one that must not be left on the plains. The body must be found, the amulet retrieved and returned to its rightful owner. But to do so one must brave the wild beasts and unforgiving nature and unearth the mystery of the grasslands."

 Castles & Crusades The Hallowed Ring By Stephen Chenault is a lower tier adventure that has the PC's starting at an inn and in search of  an amulet. This adventure starts off in an inn and pits the PC's against not only adventure's monsters but the weather itself. There's more to this adventure then a simple piece of  jewelry and more about the party's commitment to do the right thing. Clocking in at twelve pages. The Hallowed Ring picks up a first level party and brings into focus the commitment of honor and commitment. 

Castles & Crusades The Hallowed Ring is a well written, edited and solid adventure. That can act as a spring board for the PC's to jump head first into a C&C campaign. This adventure does this by presenting a solid backbone from which the basics of the  Castles & Crusades systems  are explored. And it is upon this foundation that the dungeon master can build. 
The Hallow Ring is a fun little adventure that presents the DM all he or she needs to bring the player's party into their campaign. 
The Hallowed Ring is a simple, effective, and well written adventure that shouldn't last more then a three or so sessions. It doesn't over stay it's welcome at the table top and has some solid challenges within it. 

OSR Commentary & Review On Zozer Games 43AD - Roleplaying in Roman Occupied Britain

  "43AD is a gritty military-style game with a slice of dark horror running through it. Life is grim and the world of the native Britons is painted in dark and horrific colours. Britain is a place of fear and death, terrors and torments, and the Iron-Age tribes live with these horrors. Celtic priests, the druids, contain them in lakes and pits and forests. When the legions step onto British soil, they step onto a land of ancient horrors of which they (as yet) know nothing. Life, honour and warfare amongst the tribes is explained for players and GMs alike.  

Characters are Roman soldiers, fighting for the emperor in a hostile land against the battle-hardened warriors of the tribes. This is the visible enemy, but beyond, should the Game Master wish to go there, lay the dark secrets of Britain, the night terrors, the death-bringing spirits of the wild, the night crawlers, the face eaters, the skinchangers and the rest of the monsters and wild things that infest Britain. "

Let me tell you a little story, ages ago when I was little and sitting taking in the sights of a history book on Roman Britian bigger then I was. There was a picture of Hydrian's Wall.  And I vowed that someday I would not only visit it but understand it as well as the reasons behind it. In 2006 we did just that & connected with several family members. The thing that struck me on the English side of the wall was the weight of how much history there is there. Reading through Zozer Games 43 A.D. is full on like coming home for me. The familiar history  mixed with the wyrd in 152 pages & this  is a passion project for the author/designer. The amount of detail here is incredible from skill set ups for Cepheus Engine style ancient PC's to the details in weapons, civilization, to monsters the details are bold. Highlights for me include: 

• Spells
• Monsters
• Cultural information on Romans and Britons
• Character write-ups that fit on a single index card
• 10 minute character creation

So without delay I approached Zozer Games & was promptly sent a copy of  43 A.D.  & this book is on another level. Sure there are copies of other horror themed historical rpg's sitting on my shelf.  But is on another level without a doubt. This isn't to say that  43 A.D. 

is completely overwhelming on its history or game details. Far from it, the game reads like a combination of deadly campaign, detailed rpg, & action movie waiting to happen. The combat is bloody, the system sings along in a bloody way, & this game screams to be played. The game feels like Zenobia another Paul Elliot creation where the legions of Roman meet the forces of the desert.

But  43 A.D. has the look & feel of Roman occupied  Britain with a horror film twist or two thrown in. And this is a deadly little affair of a game. The PC's are strangers in a strange land & they are far from home. And this is a cold, dangerous, lonely little world to have a PC die in. And no its not depressing but its incredibly dangerous. 

But is   43 A.D.  worth getting?! In a word yes! This is a complete unto it's game & while other books are going smaller & smaller with Cepheus Engine rpg rules.   43 A.D.  takes this notion & kicks its teeth in to give the DM & his players a complete package for six dollars! And its up to Zozer Games quality unto itself. So in a word yes   43 A.D.  is very much worth getting for three reasons, one this is a game about Roman occupied Britain done by a historian who writes history & technical books for a living. Two the maps & cartography are gorgeous! And three the setting is not one that I'd ever want to actually live in & I say this with all due respect! The idea of being in the middle of no place squared surrounded with no modern medicine, no real way home, & surrounded by people who will take your head off? No thanks but to role play in this world from the safety of your table with 2d6 system done by Zozer games absolutely! 

OSR Commentary on Baptism of Fire Rpg By Rpg Pundit

  When it comes to Baptism of Fire by The Rpg Pundit  the hard copy has been in my  hands over the weeekend. We got together today to discuss our campaign. I hammered home the fact that your PC steps outside of a city within this campaign then you are hip deep in wilderness of Poland. And this blog post picks up from here on the blog. 

 Everything in the wilderness is trying to kill your PC's and this includes many of the Fey. These Fey are completely alien to what the players might be used too. Many of the Pagans within these Poland regions are simply appeasing these spirits and Fey. This means that the Fey courts may have deep ties to the human royals within Baptism of Fire. The courier class is an essential go between the royals & the Fey. 

The Christian faith is the shield against some of more heinious monsters in the game. The priest NPC class is the boots on the ground Christian influence that is converting the Poles and others. These conversions are part of the stablility & order that the church brings to the country. This is still a long ways off. 
The pagan influence is woven throughout this campaign setting. 101 Sarmatians gives a whole cloth groups of the royal families of Poland. 
And this brings up the fact that the Christian  relics from the first era are going to be very valuable to the Poles. This is the adventure plot point of  The Pundit Files – Issue 27: The Bones of St. Florian. The wilderness plays a central point within this adventure as an adversary as much as the monsters do. This is an echo of old school Dungeons & Dragons without a doubt. The Bones of St. Florian is a great adventure to introduce the PC's many of the themes of Baptism of Fire. 

OSR Commentary The Castles & Crusades Castle Keeper's Guide Is Key To Our Clark Aston Smith's Zothique Campaign

 The Castles & Crusades Castle  Keeper's Guide  is tailor made for the dungeon master aka the Castle Keeper to design thier campaigns around the Siege Engine. The world of Zothique is perfect for the Castle Keeper's Guide to bring the resources of this book for CAS's world. 

 Zothique has a South Asian feel to it's campaign setting in our games. We've used this asthetic with C&C's boats, sea craft, etc. The Castle & Crusades Castle Keeper's Guide has a ton of material on equipment, vehicles, and gear for NPC's for sea and air adventures. This is makes this supplement a key book too use with the Amazing Adventures Chronicle Keepers Guide. There's truckfuls of material to dovetail into the DNA of a Siege Engine campaign. 

 Why? Because for Zothique allows you as the dungeon master to do any future or deadly dungeon in it's desert wastelands. The monster ecology material within the Castle Keeper's guide is perfect for Zothique. Why? Because Zothique has semi tropical, fully blown tropical, desert, wasteland, and more ecological zones for animals & monsters in the far future world millions of years in the future. 
This also includes demons, massively powerful undead, parasite monsters and worse. Zothique is a demon haunted world on every level. 

 Zothique is at the end of the world, dark magicks have returned and demons have run rampit over the globe. Lamia haunt the cracks of darkness and undead hunt the wastelands for the last vestiges of the flesh of the living. The Castle Keeper's Guide has everything we need to add another angle to the campaign. 

OSR Review & Commentary On Defiant: Native Americans in Rider For The 2d6 Rider Rpg & Cepheus Engine Rpg games

 "Honor. Survival. Resistance."

"Step into the world of the Old West like never before with Defiant: Native Americans in Rider! This in-depth supplement for the Rider Roleplaying Game brings the rich histories, cultures, and traditions of Native American nations to your tabletop."

"Explore the legacies of the Apache, Lakota, Cheyenne, Comanche, and more with detailed backgrounds and character creation options.  Master new skills, embark on warrior’s journeys, and engage in the time-honored practice of counting coup.  With expanded careers, authentic equipment, and legendary figures like Geronimo and Sitting Bull, Defiant gives you the tools to effectively add Native Americans to your Rider game!"

"Take your Rider adventures to the next level—stand your ground and shape the frontier with Defiant: Native Americans in Rider!"

Defiant: Native Americans in Rider For The 2d6 Rider Rpg is a fantastic supplement for 2d6 Old West action! This is a supplement that has no nonse approach for Native Americans in the Rider Rpg. This supplement adds tons of new skills, warriors journey in the West, tribal nation structure, history, and more. The fact is 
Defiant: Native Americans in Rider adds a whole cloth PC career option for players to bring to the Rider rpg table top arena. This brings the tragic and heroic actions of the American Indians to a Rider Rpg campaign. 

Rider is a solid Old West 2d6 rpg & brings it's resources for a DM & his players to bring the Old West campaign to life. Defiant: Native Americans in Rider adds in the other half of this equation with tons of American Indian resources for players who want a well rounded character with history, career info, and more from cradle to grave. 

This supplement has tons of famous NPC's that are a part of American West real world history and legend. These can interact with your games and player's PC's. 
Rider balances this with exciting action and systems of battle and conflict. 
This means that Defiant: Native Americans in Rider fits right into this mold.  Independence Games is known for quality and really good 2d6 Cepheus Engine games. Defiant: Native Americans in Rider is no different. It has all of the tools & systems to make sure that you have a successful Rider rpg campaign.