Vats of Rats (11 pages, free/pay what you want at DriveThruRPG) is a fun fantasy adventure for the older editions/variants of D&D, but I used Cat Hack (16 pages, same place). To create my solo engine, I changed four lines in Eye of the Dragon/Golden Dragon Fantasy Gamebook #4. I created five first level cat characters.

So, the adventure started when the town Reeve visited the town prison cell and saw the man-rat. He listened to the employee report. His cat Jumper was there too. Jumper joined his four cat friends and they headed north to see if they could fix the problem. They were hit with a heavy rain storm and they took shelter in a cave for an hour. When they got to the cave/dungeon complex, they started looking for the entrance that was used the most. The first room they explored was filled with food. The second room contained a human farmer locked up in a prison cell. In the third room they encountered a rat guard who attacked. He screamed to the get the attention of his fellow rats. The PC cats killed the first rat guard and the one that came running in later. Fluff was damaged and partially healed with the only two healing spells that the two cat shamans had. They discovered a rat secret door and followed it to more rooms and encounters. Another nasty encounter was with the two rat vivimancers (the two bosses). Both were killed, but Fluff went to zero hit points. She did not lose one of her nine lives, but she is now crippled (minus two on Dexterity – permanent). She regained four of her five hit points. They also had to deal with a man-rat. The cats ran into the laboratory followed by the man-rat. The cats jumped up on the tables and started knocking glass vials and jars onto the floor. The liquids mixed together which formed a misty gas which rose up from the floor. This gas stung the eyes. The man-rat cried and the cats were able to escape. Jumper still had the dead vivimancer rat in its mouth. Next, they freed the farmer. They went to his place, had a nice meal, and slept near the warm fireplace. Then next day they encountered a frog creature who did not talk to them. The adventure ended when Jumper gave his owner (Reeve) the dead vivimancer rat body. Give this RPG a try!

If the original 'White Star' is a tribute to Star Wars, this is a tribute to Star Trek executed with the same love of the source material and dedication to making the material playable and approachable.

9 new classes, rules for space exploration and military ranks, as well as a sizeable bestiary.

The new setting included offers two 'Eras' of play. A 'Golden Age' of peace when the Federation is at it's height and a 'Dark Age' after it's fallen with our heroes struggling to restore it's light to the galay.

Besides Star Trek this product is heavily influenced by Andromeda and FarScape. the blending of ideas and themes makes it a setting both familiar and new at the same time.

If you like White Star I'd highly recommend this add-on

I'm always on the look out for another way of using monsters & adding in a bit more mayhem to my games. The truth is that you have to add in the touch of the unexpected into games because of very experienced & jaded old school players. They've seen it all and played it all. The fact is one way of adding a bit of the weird and unexpected are the monsters. I use a mix of standard and the unusual for creating old school style adventures. Black Box Books -- Tome Eight: Handlist of Horrors From Ivanhoe Unbound is another creative and highly evocative tools of the DMing trade. A handy list of weirdness that can add any number of tiny seeds for creature creation, with suggested hit dice levels and a method for calculating all the other statistics from that hit dice level. Monsters & stats are keyed here for adventure creation with a flare for the unusual & for ninety five sense you do get your money's worth. Example of creatures range from the esoteric such as the DECKLER (10): Undead creature rarely formed when someone dies via a spell. Obsessively devours spell scrolls to the demonic such as the EPHIALODAEMON (7): 6’ tall mantis with head of human infant. Voice like a castrato. This is one of those non standard monsters books that works when you as the dungeon master want a non run of the mill monster but don't want to spend the rest of the day detailing the still born horror of a monster. There is a mixed bag of creatures & monsters making this a perfect combination of horrors that will keep players on their toes and guessing what's around the next bend of the dungeon or wilderness survival crawl.

This is a case of the monster could be used to build the adventure around them. This makes the hooks & bait for the adventure an on going process that the DM's needs to dip into Handlist of Horrors. But is this book a welcome set of tools or simply a waste of money? Well this is a resource with tons of potential to keep even the most jaded player on their toes. Things such as the VISCERA MYRMIDON (9): The intestines of several warriors woven together and animated by a wraith. This is a perfect monster to throw into a game of Lamentations of the Flame Princess. This book brings fifty five monster seeds to the table and then keeps things going with solid hooks and leads inside the dark underbelly of the Handlist of Horrors. This basically means that players are going to have a hard time identifying the weirder monsters. But even the weird ones are variations of many old school stand by's but done in such a way as to keep things fresh. Tome Eight: Handlist of Horrors is a great book to use as a monster fill gap for unexpected encounters during a game when PC's wander into places that might provide them with weird adventure encounters. These places might include wasteland ruins in games such as Mutant Future or even the upcoming Mutant Crawl Classics. Because of the universal nature of Swords & Wizardry this popular retroclone's abilities as a platform are going to be tested. Tome Eight: Handlist of Horrors is there to fill the gap. There's enough adventure and monster fodder to keep the DM going for years to come. Four out of five for originality and utility for adventure construction. Eric Fabiaschi Sword & Stitchery Blog Want to see more? Besure to subscribe to http://swordsandstitchery.blogspot.com For this and other OSR titles reviews & support

There was a time back n '08 when I first got into OSR titles that DYI Dungeons & Dragons was the main reason. Basically it means being selective about what parts & pieces your going to use at your table & as a part of the system that your going to be running. For many this is OD&D or Swords & Wizardry. Black Box Books has produced some very interesting pdfs for old school style retroclones and now we've got another offering from them. Tome Seven: Goetics and Gnostics offers up some very dangerous bits of NPC or player classes culled from the warped mind of Kirt Dankmyer. There is plenty of off beat stuff in here for ninety five sense, you get the GOETIC MAGE which is basically a mage able to cast spells, wear armor, & cast spells. How does this PC class do this? Well he or she sort of takes a very dangerous infernal or Lovecraftian short cut;"A Goetic Mage uses a dangerous shortcut to arcane power. By invoking various gods and spirits in a very particular way, a Goetic Mage uses divine and demonic power to achieve personal ends. A Goetic Mage is exactly the same as a Cleric, except in seven respects. First, a Goetic Mage is not dedicated to any faith, instead “praying” to a variety of entities, often to force other entities (like Qlippothic demons) to provide them with spells." They remind me of some hedge wizard/priest types I've seen over the years in a number of games and they can work very well if the campaign calls for it. These mages might be perfect additions into a game of Lamentations of the Flame Princess or as minor cult priest for The Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea rpg. But the really interesting priest class is the GNOSTIC PRIEST,who is able to do a few very interesting wrinkles & crazy tricks up their robed sleeves;"A Gnostic Priest uses mundane ritual (arcane magic) to divine ends. It is a more difficult path than being a Cleric, but it is another way to directly experience the divine. A Gnostic Priest is exactly the same as a Magic User, except in eight respects. First, instead of using the Magic User spell list, a Gnostic Priest uses the Cleric spell list, though spells are still recorded in a spellbook, a sort of formulaic prayer-book. Second, they may copy clerical scrolls (only) into their book, but can use both Cleric and Magic User scrolls. Third, every time a Gnostic Priest gains a level, they may add a spell to their book of a level they can currently cast. Fourth, a Gnostic Priest cannot progress past 10th level.Fifth, the Prime Attribute for a Gnostic Priest is Wisdom. Sixth, a Gnostic Priest has a percentage chance to resist any hostile divine magic equal -- 3 -- to 3% times their current level. Seventh, a Gnostic Priest may found a temple, exactly like a Cleric. Finally, Lawful Gnostic Priests (only) can turn a Qlippothic Demon like a Cleric would turn an undead being of equivalent hit dice" Both of these classes can be used for OD&D and this product really does meet the criteria that it sets forth in the blurb. The work here is clever, condensed, and very interesting as well as entertaining. Can I see that the author knows what makes some clever bits and pieces that can easily be used with any number of retroclone systems. But the real heart & soul here is the "RANDOM TABLES TO PRODUCE OVER 288,000 DIFFERENT QLIPPOTHIC DEMONS" What exactly are these entities? Well, according to wiki;"The Qliphoth/Qlippoth/Qelippot or Kelipot (Heb. קְלִיפּוֹת, the different English spellings are used in the alternative Cabalistic traditions[1] of Hermetic Qabalah and Jewish Kabbalah respectively), literally "Peels", "Shells" or "Husks" (from singular: קְלִיפָה Qliphah/Kelipah "Husk"),[2] are the representation of evil or impure spiritual forces in Jewish mysticism, the polar opposites of the holy Sephirot.[3] The realm of evil is also termed "Sitra Achra/Ahra" (Aramaic סטרא אחרא, the "Other Side" opposite holiness) in Kabbalah texts." These unclean and weird spirits are tied intimiately with both character classes and these tables could be used to churn out some pretty horrorific unclean spirits which is perfect for any weird or horror themed OSR game? But are they worth it? I think so and best of all the material here in Goetics and Gnostics is open game content; "This product uses the OPEN GAME LICENSE Version 1.0a (see attached document and/or http://www.wizards.com/d20/files/OGLv1.0a.rtf ) DESIGNATION OF PRODUCT IDENTITY: The names Black Box BookTM and Ivanhoe UnboundTM, including the Ivanhoe Unbound logo, when used in any context, are product identity, copyright 2015 by Kirt A. Dankmyer. All other artwork is in the public domain. All text that does not directly affect the game rules for the creatures and classes contained in this document are product identity. DESIGNATION OF OPEN GAME CONTENT: All game rule text and tables, with the exception of material specifically excluded in the declaration of product identity, is open game content. Please give up-front credit where it is due, including conforming to the Swords & Wizardry Compatibility-Statement License (http://www.d20swsrd.com/swords-and-wizardry-srd/legal-information)" This is really important to me as an OSR hobby author & designer, because I actually like & will be using this material in the future for an upcoming publication. However could Goetics and Gnostics be used with a product or setting such as Dark Albion? Yes it could be used as a fill gap until Cults & Chaos hits the wild in July or it could be used to represent a foreign wizard or mage if the DM is using OD&D or Swords &Wizardry for a gritty game such as Dark Albion. Basically Goetics and Gnostics is a set of tools with a very wide range of applications. If you want demons and unclean spirits fast for a game tonight or something different for that class guy whose always got to play something weird or different this might be the pdf for you. Much of the material here is short & too the point but that's fine because it allows the dungeon master & the players to fill in the background as needed. All I want to see is from Ivanhoe Unbound is a collected best of Black Box Books with a print option so I don't have to keep flipping through pdf after pdf. Four out of five. Eric Fabiaschi Swords and Stitchery Blog Want to see more content and support for this and other OSR products don't forget to subscribe to http://swordsandstitchery.blogspot.com

A fun and interesting impulse buy priced item, Five Year Mission adds elements of Star Trek, Farscape and Andromeda to Whitestar, with a number of new classes, ship types and alien races.

There are some really fun ideas in here My favorite is the Expendable class, where the player gets to run a number of "Red Shirt" style crewmen and can expect to see them knocked off as the other players get into and barely survive dangers. My second favorite is the Living Starship class, letting the player roleplay the group's vehicle and homebase in the stars.

A few ideas don't grab me. the Exiled Ruler in particular - based I am sure on the Farscape character - seems like too narrow a character as written, portraying that specific character rather than a more broadly defined archetype.

Hey! For seventy cents this is a no brainer. If yo are playing Whitestar or any other OSR Sci-fi style game it is worthy adding to you tool box.

The White Star rpg has been based on the Swords and Wizardry engine pretty much catters to the pulp and Star Wars style space opera genre. It also has one of the most active and passionate fan bases imaginable pumping out incredible content for the game as fast as possible. But much of the OSR material for the game has centered around this style of space opera and Star Trek style adventuring has been lacking. And yes there are a number of OSR products and retroclone that meet that need. This isn't what Five Year Mission by Kirt A. Dankmyer is, instead this is an add on tool kit support system for adding in federation style star ships casts and crew to your White Star Games. But Kirt this isn't a complete product, its a product that has some development and the designer/writer wants to share it with you! And at .70 cents can you go wrong? Five Year Mission adds in tongue and cheek elements to the game in Kirt's solid writing style and it adds in a whole other dimension to your White Star games. This book adds in all of the usual suspects from Trek to your White Star Games. Think about that all of the usual suspects are now dropped straight into your Space Opera games of White Star. Here's the offical word from Ivanhoe Unlimited:

BUT it will transform into the final product! As more is added, the price will go up! But you'll get the updated version, free of charge!

What is it about? It's a supplement for White Star with a sort of Star Trek theme.

Right now, it contains:

But let's take this a step further, have you ever wondered about those away missions that have gone wrong during those five years out in the middle of unexplored space? What would happen if some Star Wars style adventurers ran smack into the midst of this business? Well now you can and at .70's cents its easy to get into the back end of the action. Most of the material here is well done and plays out someplace between the original Star Trek series and Next Generation with a combination of the two possible and easily done. Now there are tons of Star Trek expanded universe material out there to use. What Five Year Mission does is saves you half of the head ache of searching for it and hunting through tons of books to locate facts and figures. Five Year Mission isn't complete but its a damn fine start to a promising book that could add a ton of material to the White Star Universe for Old School play. Personally I would get in on the ground floor cheaply and then as things build you the old school DM is ahead of the curve. There are several other possible uses for Five Year Mission easily right out of the gate. It could be used to emulate those dirty and dangerous failed colonies we used to hear about on Star Trek in both the original series and the Next Generation. Combined with elements already in White Star this book could simulate a post apocalyptic world or colony. Used to get PC's right smack into the middle of dangerous situations in the wastelands. This book could be used with elements of Swords and Wizardry added in to simulate elements of science fantasy or monsters who have become mutational horrors reminiscent of some the classic D&D or AD&D modules such as Expedition to the Barrier Peaks. And you've got the makings of a complete campaign for years to come. The possibilities here are endless and its only .70 cents right now. Personally I can see a myriad of uses for this product and as a Star Trek fan this is a welcome addition to the growing White Star universe and family of products

Kirt Dankmyer is either a madman or a genius or maybe a bit of both, his latest OSR effort is focused on the Bard but this is another take on the class. Music is one of the most powerful forces of life and these PC's are the focal point for that genius. But that same genius damns them as rogues and outcasts. In this you have part of what makes the Prodigy something very special. For that energy that burns brightest within them also burns them out as well and should they stay in one place for too long it can consume their minds and hearts. This is only an eight page pdf but it packs a nice punch for a fun roguish adventurer of musical powers and abilities that both can entertain and bring the fun adventure side to this genius. Why do I like the Prodigy? Because its got lots of useful bits and pieces that with the right player could become a perfect vehicle to allow parties to get embroiled in the deep end of country, court life,and urban pseudo European locations. But is that the limit of the class? Not at all, I think that when you start looking into this class it has potential for all kinds of AD&D 1st edition or OSRIC style games. The layout and artwork is bare bones but that's not why you'll want to get this .98 pdf, instead your getting this as another addition onto the bardic PC class that allows for a roguish genius to be added into your old school games. This is a perfect addition to parties where the elements of a thief can come into play but you get a real PC that burns with the power of music to make a bit of extra coin and entertain as well. But there's a bit of a sleazy element at play here as well, in fact quite a bit of it. This is a class that is at home in the bar room as well as the court. But there's more, because the road is always calling with this class. So where could this class be useful? Well the obvious answer is for the primarily historical rpg and adventures but that goes without saying. So anything from the early Stone age to the Seventeenth century are the realms of the Prodigy, but he could be just as at home in the seedy gin joints of the Roaring Twenties to the sweat halls of today as a DJ. The energy of music is pretty universal and one of the unexplored parts of rogues and thieves especially the guilds is their connections to performers and musicians. Don't believe me well go look at the relations between fences, pawns, and musical instruments. But that's not all, the prodigy could be used as a part of a post apocalyptic adventuring party as well. A way of getting into and welcome by post apocalyptic communities who might otherwise be very hostile to the party of adventurers. Musicians and entertainers are always welcome to the grind and tedious nature of the wastelands but due to the very nature of the PC class they're always going to be on the move. This same sort of energy and creative crack of musical lightning will also make them welcome in interstellar courts where the nature of the intrigue and FTL makes the prodigy a useful and coveted asset to the courts and court life of a backwater planet. In point of fact the Prodigy is ideally suited as a force of adventuring prowess and focal point for clever DM's to exploit by their very nature. Imagination and exploitation work hand and hand to make this a very interesting and clever way to motivate adventurers into the deep end of the pool. In point of fact with some clever slight of hand a DM could draw higher level Prodigies into full blown courtly intrigues on a grand scale with their weirdly adaptable abilities into a game of White Star or a similar old school space game.Even though this material is for OSRIC a clever DM could easily adapt this class to most of the major retroclones on the market with a bit of slight of hand on their part. But through all of this is The Prodigy (Bard) From Ivanhoe Unbound worth the money for yet another version of the Bard PC class? Yes I think so because it makes a certain amount of sense to add in a PC class that can and will pull a party out of the mid campaign doldrums and into a high energy as well as high adventure point. And that's exactly what The Prodigy (Bard) From Ivanhoe Unbound does in spades! Eric Fab Sword and Stitchery rpg blog

What is the 'Rocker' PC class? Well that's pretty easy to explain. There have always been this weird set of sort of alternative realities where rock & roll was/is king and the party goes on forever surrounded by the lights,drugs, three A.M. Pink Floyd laser light shows, eternal fog machines and the galactic stage. Now add in a variation of the bard as interstellar or post apocalyptic PC class. Add in new monsters and you've got the making the latest add on product for the White Star retro clone rpg system. Called simply 'the Rocker' , this is a nine page variation of a new take on the bard with twists into some very daring, fun, and dark rock & roll ideas. This product takes the rock and roll daydreams and Saturday morning cartoon ideas of yesteryear and brings them into a whole new direction with this PC class. For the slim cost of a dollar you get a complete class, new sets of monsters, and some twisted fun.Perfect for taking your campaign in a whole other rock and roll school direction. Basically this product take the White Star rpg system and adds in a fun, funny,and weirdly twisted take with the PC's being intergalactic rockers on a mission. That mission is up to you but it possibly involves those of you who are fans of such influences as Subatomic Party Girls, Rock and Rule, Operation: Mindcrime, Buckaroo Bonzai, Gwar, Doctor Octagon, Silverhawks, Kidd Video, Limozeen, Metalocalypse, Ziggy Stardust, the original cartoon Jem, and the drug hazed memories of Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space! So basically your playing intergalactic rock and rollers in SPPAAACEE who can influence crowds, deal with adventuring situations, and even gauge the reactions of the alien audiences your PC's deal with. This isn't the first time I've seen this sort of a campaign but the last time was in a post apocalyptic wasteland. And this product adds in new wrinkles to the mix. But I've got to say something about the cover art. I hate it. Seriously this title cover isn't going to grab anyone's attention at all. I get what its supposed to do but it doesn't convey the awesome energy that the rest of the product evokes. And in nine pages you get everything you need to set up a brand new style of a White Star Rpg rock and roll campaign. Well almost everything. The DM and players are still going to need a copy of the White Star Rpg. This class introduces such things as the power to deafen a target, a Rocker can play a sound so loud and terrible that anyone within 100 yards without ear protection must save versus audio assault or be deafened for 1d6 turns. Groupies as a ninth level perk/power as well as an entourage and the ability to establish a record label at ninth level. etc. And yes there are saving throws to stave off those Satanic record label agents. Yes, all of the usual rock and roll abilities and powers are in here and more. This begs for the DM to create venues and send those crazy rockers on all kinds of interstellar adventures in sleazy dives and alien concert halls across the universe and beyond. This product echoes the golden age of Studio Fifty Four dark side record agents & executives mixed in with drug fueled Star Wars nightmares brought to a boil with Saturday morning cartoons. Adult cartoons in my case but you get the idea. This could easily be reverse engineered so that you could have your party of rockers appearing on some backwater science fantasy or Swords and Wizardry planet and wowing the crowd. There's even a table that has a random roll to allow the DM to gauge the crowd's reaction at each venue. Modifiers for local religions, pitch fork wielding mobs and more are up the DM. New monsters include Crimson Arachnids which I'm assuming might come from Mars, and what rock and roll band can't use a drum bot, Space Mummies are in there as well who hate the sound of rock. Then we get Void Rockers a twisted and horrid philistine of the dark side whose given their soul to a Void Knight to be twisted into a very mockery of a horror of heavy metal proportions. We live in an a golden age of hand carved old school neo rpg products and The Rocker is a fine start on a complete campaign product. As an addition to the White Star universe of products this is a nice one. And its pretty damn well done for a dollar. Five out of five even if bards still suck the rocker is a really interesting addition to the intergalactic crowd of White Star. Eric Sword and Stitchery Blog

So recently I received a copy of Black Box Book's latest offering Tome Four Doglocks and Draughts, I was thinking not another black powder rules set for OD&D. Well fortunately its far more then simply that. Doglocks and Draughts is a set of black powder rules of OD&D and Swords and Wizardry retroclone style systems but its more. What this is an expansion of several already readily available black powder rpg systems. This takes the material up to another level by expanding upon the black powder weaponry and then adding in the bonus of weird mundane medicine with some very interesting and potentially weird side effects. The whole bit of OSR weirdness clocks in at about nine pages and remains perfect adaptable to any number of old school style rpg systems. Much of the material reminds me again of stuff that would be available as optional systems to add to OD&D. The material here is concise and easily dropped into any OD&D campaign or pulp style retro clone system. The author does a good job with a no nonsense approach to the material here that gives the DM all kinds of room to adapt and fold the book into their existing campaigns. Because of the way this is done there is little chance of this material upsetting the balance of existing campaigns. The material here can be used for existing fire arms as the next phase of gun powder weaponry or dropped right into a perfectly timed existing campaign setting. In point of fact this material could easily be adapted into a game of Labryth Lord or as a potential expansion of gun powder systems for a game such as the Lamentations of The Flame Princess rpg system. The potential here is to move the time line of the LoFP world to get the most out of Doglocks and Draughts while giving the PC's even more options at the table. But with a game such as LoFP this might make little difference because of the very nature of the 'survival horror' nature of some of the game's adventures. Do I think that this is another worthy down load? Yes I do because it does what its supposed to and without breaking up to much of the DM's time to read or to fit this pdf into their own existing head space and campaigns. Grab this one now and get working within the frame work of your own games and campaigns as well.

Science fantasy is a hard one to really classify and but there have been some writers of incredible exception and Clark Aston Smith is one of my all time favorites & this eight page swords and wizardry supplement covers all of the basics for creature design and designation. Black Box Books seems to cover some of the most esoteric OD&D style angles of content that I've seen from the OGL. The monsters have a myriad of uses and are right up the Weird Tales sort of a alley. These are meant to be dropped right into an existing Swords and Wizardry or Labyrinth Lords style of adventure. The Avatar of Mordiggiel is from the Clark Aston Smith story The Charnal God, as well as the Clergy of Mordiggiel. These are presented with a concise and condensed background that a DM expects from Swords & Wizardry. The Graedigg, is a nasty piece of work just waiting to devour your adventurers. And the Akephalos are the monsters from myth and legend, and pretty much in line with the mythology of these horrors right HERE. Then we get another clan of nasty and dangerous cannibals that are straight out of Icelandic or a frozen landscape. Wrathful emanations are a sort of dreamlike monsters who resemble their creators. Something akin to a monster which seems one part Doctor Strange comic book spell and one part legendary myth. These things can kill with intent of the cleric or spell caster and can be used for a variety of taboo or weird in game effects. Finally we get a weird little take on Chaos magic which is perfect for a cleric or wizard devoted to a chaos god or goddess random magical insanity and decadence. Think something akin to a weird or more sinister So does Cannibals and Confusion From Ivanhoe Unbound lives up to the hype? Here is the break down, for a dollar and one cent you get a whole mess of pulp style weirdness to drop straight into your Swords & Wizardry or OD&D campaign or your favorite retro clone role playing system. Because of the mix of mythological and pulpy goodness this is a perfect little convention set of monsters and magick to drop into your favorite old school campaigns. To be perfectly honest,this set of weirdness inspired by Clark Aston Smith might work in a set of adventures set in a customized or loosely based Smithian set of adventures. Is it worth the price and set up of the whole pdf? I think so, it reminds me of those other small 70's and early 80's style Old dungeons and dragons style fanzines that used to make the rounds back in the days of legend & yor. There's even a few options for printing out this product into a handy fold away pamphlet style booklet for easy small handy Seventies take away for your old school campaigns. All in all this one has a ton of uses. All of these monsters and spells can be used to enhance any number of areas from a great campaign up change in the post apocalyptic wastelands to the use in a Clark Aston Smith style dungeon location where you need any number of weird or more then slightly strange horrors to stalk as well as feed on your adventurers. Do I think that this one is worth the download? Without a doubt this little add on puts a more then slightly sinister spin on your old school campaigns with an OD&D addition of weirdness to your campaigns.

Another offering from Black Box Books that takes the science fantasy PC's in an adventuring group in another direction and offers up a few science fantasy artifacts that can be added into the DM's toybox for adventure design or for use as 'treasure' but like all things there is an element of adventure design. So as they they say on with the show! There are times in a science fantasy campaign when you need a buffoon or a jester style character especially in Swords and Wizardry or OD&D style game. A bit of buffoonery goes a long way towards keeping a party of adventurers and cut throats alive. Well it looks like Black Box Book has released another in its like of old school science fantasy weirdness with Black Box Books -- Tome Two: Buffoons And Blasters. This is a weird little download which features a pretty interesting mix of PC classes and artifacts for Swords and Wizardry or any old school campaign focusing on an OD&D style campaign. This pdf features many of the same old fashion conventions that Kirt A. Dankmyer visited in Astronauts and Ancients namely the idea of a pdf that can be folded into a pocket sized booklet for easy of use at the gaming table. The real draw here are the character classes and there are three rather unusual takes on the classic OD&D style Jester classes. Kirt gets into the meat and potatoes of a 'funny' man class with the these three. The CLOWN-MONK, this is an interesting take on the traditional monk that takes on the idea of one who uses comedy as some to allow his audience to move further along on the path of enlightenment The FOOLE, a combination of funnyman & jester with a scattering of magical abilities who uses random magic and dumb luck to befuddle his opponents The HECKLER, could Don Rickles be a space adventurer who uses insults to disorient and deal distractions to his opponents? This class answers this question in spades. But fortunately they have plenty of hit points and some very interesting abilities to compensate as well.

The classes are well balanced and concise in their execution while hitting the high notes of the the material. Are these classes useful? Yes but they are specialized in what they can do in a science fantasy or space opera setting. They could be used in a post apocalyptic wasteland with little problem but in point of fact this might actually be one of the proper places to really explore the potential of such classes. All in all this is a solid set of well done classes. There are smattering of toys and artifacts that would fit the bill in a number of science fiction or fantasy venues. These are well done and highly detailed but there is a complain its just that I wish that there were stats for OSRIC or AD&D 1st edition. All in all this is very well done and very nicely executed addition to a science fantasy DM's arsenal and a must have for a DM wanting to add a bit of that baggy pants of comedy to help with the survive of a party survive in space, in the wasteland, and other venues of adventure weirdness.

Black Box Books has produced some very interesting pdfs for old school style retroclones and now we've got another offering from them. This one is Tome One Astronauts and Ancients. This covers the Greys and Reptile men of UFO lore as well as using them both as PC races for the Swords & Wizardry retroclone rpg system. This little product packs a ton of material into its nine pages of material. The ideas here are clever and very original. Damn it I wanted to avoid using these guys in an upcoming campaign but this is a really nice little product and Ivanhoe games has even incorporated in a pocket version for print out and booklet folding for a product that looks like it was dropped right out of the Seventies or early 80's. Kirt A. Dankmyer is a clever author and knows how to put out an original and weirdly entertaining product. Do I want to used these guys? Well that is my bench mark test for a gaming product and the answer is yes I'm definitely using these guys coming up. With a cost of only .98 cents this is a no brainer for download. This booklet simply presents the basics for these races and with games like Carcosa and other science fantasy retroclones adventures this is one piece of gaming goodness that goes a long way.

According to the Drivethru rpg blurb : BOTH the GREYS and the SERPENT FOLK are magic-oriented, with SPELLBOOKS BURNED ON THEIR BRAINS! IVANHOE UNBOUND is PROUD to present these TWO NEW RACES for SWORDS AND WIZARDRY WHITEBOX or ANY OTHER OLD SCHOOL GAME based on the 1974 three booklet version of the WORLD-FAMOUS RPG whose name rhymes with "TRUNCHEONS AND FLAGONS!" AND SPEAKING OF BOOKLETS, this supplement comes in POCKETMOD FORMAT. Print out a SINGLE PIECE OF PAPER which can be TRANSFORMED with FOLDS and a single cut into a TINY EIGHT PAGE BOOKLET with EVERYTHING YOU NEED to use these two races in your OSR game!

And this product really does meet the criteria that it sets forth in the blurb. The work here is clever, condensed, and very interesting as well as entertaining. Can I see that the author knows what makes some clever bits and pieces that can easily be used with any number of retroclone systems. All in all this has been a really nice little download to grab and it actually does live up to it's hype in the rpg site descriptions. Grab this one and add a bit more science fantasy strangeness to your dungeons and adventure locations. Highly recommended!

Eight pages and two new races, Astronauts and Ancients is a unique add-on for Swords & Wizardry WhiteBox. It brings a distinctly sci-fi element to traditional sword and sorcery gaming. Presented in a 9 page normally formatted PDF, it also includes a specially formatted PDF that can be folded to create a printable book that fits on a single page. For less than a buck, it's an awesome deal.

The Mutant Future rpg system has been built upon the shores of decades worth of pop culture influences and these include a good number of wide ranging mutants, aliens, and countless creatures from classic pulp to film influences. But many of these are trying to kill your PC's! But why should all of the monsters have all of the fun? Well that's where Androids, Aliens, And Aberrations comes into play from Ivanhoe Games. Writer Mark Dankmyer taps into that best part of the Mutant Future retroclone system with Androids, Aliens, and Abberations. There is a decidedly pulpy approach to the Mutant Future rpg post apocalyptic retroclone system by Goblinoid Games and AAA gives your players a chance to dive into the deep end of the post apocalyptic pool. And its done with a ton of splashing old school PC comic book vileness and venom in the best possible way. This is a book for both DM's and players of the the game and it adds quite a bit to the tool box of DM options right out of the gate of mutant madness. This is a supplement the plums the depths of the post apocalyptic game's grind house and psychotronic's roots. And that's exactly how its meant to be used. Along with Brain Lashers and Rad Dragons we get a PC's stock of Enhanced Humans, Psions, and more to battle, plot, and generally give players a chance to play everything from the exotic to the sublime in one cracking hell of a nineteen page book. You can see this right in the blurb from Drivethrurpg: BUY NOW AT A DISCOUNTED PRICE, FOR A LIMITED TIME! EXCITEMENT!!! ADVENTURE!!! Over TEN NEW RACES for MUTANT FUTURE... EIGHT New Classes for LABYRINTH LORD... And a TERRIFYING BONUS MONSTER!!! This is a supplement for Mutant Future, Labyrinth Lord, and other old-school games based on a pre-1989 edition of a well-known fantasy role playing game that rhymes with "Truncheons and Flagons." Here's what you get: Eleven New Races for use with Mutant Future, including genetically engineered humans (Enhanced Humans, Psions), dangerous warbots (Ender, E9000), and awesome aliens (Grey, Reptoid). If that isn't enough, we've got crossbreeds (Evolved Human, Serpent Noble) and even weirder things (Goliath, Loonar, Rotter)! Eight New Racial Classes for Labyrinth Lord™ and similar old-school roleplaying games, based on most of the races already mentioned. One adorable, but dangerous, bonus monster for Mutant Future™, Labyrinth Lord™ and similar old-school roleplaying games. But the fact is that there is far more to this approach by the writer, the book dovetails and pulls from the pulptastic tradition of pulp sci fi and horror for inspiration as well as films,video games, and many pop culture references. But does Androids, Aliens, and Aberrations do this well? I'm happy to report that I think so, in point of fact it does it. The book in nineteen pages plugs into those roots and brings to the table eleven new races with all of the sci fi pulptastic trimmings. And a bonus monster as well for Labyrinth Lord, speaking of which all of the races covered under AA&A also include the Maze's and Mutant's rule conversions for Labyrinth Lord allowing even more madness in the dungeon. The author even sites all of his source material for the supplement so that you can go pull from the films,stories and television shows that he's drawn from. Is it worth the price of admission? Yes and its on special from a dollar fifty to ninety eight cents. Grab this one and bring your Mutant Future game even more high weirdness in the name the post apocalyptic wastes.

Unsung is a game about ordinary people faced with extraordinary decisions. It's about the moment when life and death are on the line and you have to choose between the high road and the easy way. It's about cops and robbers, soldiers and cowboys. It's about morality under fire.

Most of the game is presented in terms of an example SWAT team campaign, and much of the art (a mix of line drawings and phtographs) supports this image, but there's a chapter of guidance on using the Unsung rules for anything from noir to cyberpunk to superheroes.

The core mechanics are simple, with few stats and a universal roll-under mechanic. By far the most important rules, however, are the ones concerning self-control and narration rights.

At any time, players can suggest details to be added to the scene in play. The GM may veto these, but is encouraged not to. A special kind of suggestion, called a gift, is one which forces another player character into a morally-challenging situation. Can the character do what's right, even under intense pressure and temptation? A failure will lead to a lapse, where the player loses control of the character and the easy way out is taken.

There are rules for sacrifice and savagery, for missions and medals and mortality. As said, the core mechanics are simple. A hefty chunk of most pages is taken up with sidebars offering advice, reminders, and optional rules. There's a detailed table of contents, a hefty glossary and an extensive index.

I've been talking so far about the 'standard' version of Unsung, a fifty-odd page illustrated and bookmarked pdf file. However, this is a remarkably comprehensive package. Not only does it come with both high- and low-resolution versions of this file, there's also a version without the artwork, a html document stripped of both the art and the sidebars, and a PDA version of this 'core' file. Plus, of course, a character sheet, although since Unsung characters have so few numbers it's more like a quick-reference rules sheet and a character sheet combined.

If you're interested in the kind of story Unsung is designed to tell, and are open to its somewhat unconventional approach to narration and control, then this is well worth investigating.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: A unique treatment of some surprisingly underused subject matter.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: The writing occasionally wanders off on tangents, somewhat distracting from the focus of the book.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>