Strange Stars Fate Released

The wait is over--at least for you Fate fans. The Strange Stars Fate Rulebook written by John Till edited by myself and featuring art by David Lewis Johnson, Adam Moore and Reno Maniquis and layout and design by Lester B. Portly is here!

For those of you of more old school tastes, you are not forgotten. The OSR rulebook is in the works. Stay tuned.

It's Full of Stars

Strange Stars, Weird Adventures, and products by my Hydra Co-op partners Slumbering Ursine Dunes and Fever-Dreaming Marlinko are in a Bundle of Holding--along with Gnomes of Levnec, Owl Hoot Trail, Beyond the Wall, and Red & Pleasant Land! Check it out and get some good stuff.

Speaking of Strange Stars, here's a sequel to my post on random adventure idea generation for the setting:

The Hunt: The PCs search for [A] [B] but must contend with [C]
A: 1 A Eden Seeker terrorist cell  2 A bioengineered horror from the surface of Phobetor  3 Convicted megacorp executive 4 A thief with a stolen bioweapon 5 A Wanderer Avatar
B: 1 across the deserts of Deshret  2 in Smaragdoz City  3 through the forests of Woon  4 on the planet Rune  5 during a party in a domed city on Aygo  6 under the ice on Boreas
C: 1 the Pharesmid Syndicate  2 the hellhounds  3 Talosian Moravec supremacists  4 a squad of Thrax  4 a djagga bounty hunter  5 Instrumentality agents  6 a Circean witch

The Challenge: The PCs (or one of them) participates in [A] on [B].
A: 1 A martial arts competition  2 A high-stakes gambling tournament  3 A race  4 A hunt for an exotic animal  5 A deadly game  6 A battle of the bands
B: 1 A vessel circling a hyperspace anomaly  2 a domed area of an asteroid  3 Interzone  4 the wilderness of Smaragdoz  5 Gogmagog  6 the diamond planet Solitaire (Fortuna I)

Wednesday Comics: 8HOUSE

8HOUSE is a science fantasy anthology series from Image, where each arc can be read alone, but also apparently forms a part of a bigger universe. So far, we've had Arclight, Kiem, and Yorris. The first two chapters were written by Brandom Graham of the Prophet revamp, while the third is written by Helen Maier.

So far, I've read the Arclight issues, both drawn by Marian Churchland, They tell the story of queen on a alien, desert world who's trapped in a root-like body while an alien masquerades as her. She's served by one androgynous knight (the titular Arclight) while the other knights unknowingly serve the pretender. Blood forms the basis of the magic wielded by the knight's and others, and their are border creatures that are made of it--the living border's of the "Blood Lands."

In other words, it shows the sort of inventiveness that characterizes Graham's other work. If the other chapters are as good, 8HOUSE is going to be quite an epic.

Your Pain is Their Pleasure

Here's another excerpt from Strange Stars OSR: an Algosian as written up by Robert Parker.

ALGOSIAN
No. Appearing: 1-3
Hit Dice: 2
AC: 6
Saving Throw: 14+
Attack Bonus: +2
Damage: 1d8+1 monoblade or 1d8 stun baton, 1d6 + special (Via Dolorosa Agonizer)
Skill Bonus: +2
Move: 30'
Morale: 9
Algosians are humanoid torture cultists in the Zuran Expanse. They are thought to be the bioroid creations and former servitors of the Faceless Ones, an ancient sadist cabal. The Algosians learned a lot from their masters and now apply that knowledge to those that fall into their hands.

Algosians rely on kidnappings to get most of their victims. To this end, they operate clubs or brothels in some spaceports, though their involvement is usually secret.

In combat, Algosians relish the use of their Via Dolorosa, devices inherited from the Faceless Ones and passed through the generations. Each is unique in design particulars, but all are wand-like devices that deliver a concentrated burst of microwaves to exposed or lightly covered (normal clothing) skin, causing excruciating pain. A hit with the Via Dolorosa does 1d6 points of nonlethal damage and calls for a Physical Effects save to avoid being utterly incapacitated by pain for 1d4 rounds.

Algosians are resistant to pain (Savings Throw 9 vs pain-related effects) and their natural recovery of hit points is at twice the normal rate, though medical care or Biopsionics effect them the same as baseline humanoids..

MOTU Minis Maximized

Dark Horse has release a collection of the Masters of the Universe mini-comics that came packaged with the toys. This compact, but weighty tome (nearly 2.5 inches thick) not only contains the comics from the original toyline (1982-1987), but also comics for the follow-up He-Man toyline, the She-Ra line, and the recent comics from the Masters of the Universe Classic toys--plus a bunch of extras.

As I've mentioned before, my favorites are the original series written by Donald Glut and drawn by Alfredo Alcala that present a pulpier, less superheroic version than the ones DC would follow them up with, or particularly the ones after the cartoon became popular. Still, all of them have good bits--plenty of things stealable for a game. Like these time demons:

The Azurth Dictionary

The beyond the blog, my periodically updated Dictionary of the Land of Azurth is the definite guide to the setting. Here's the latest version, updated to cover things like the Whim-Wham Stone, the Aldwode and the peculiar people of Swells Head.

Wednesday Comics: Back to the Spire

The Spire #3-4 (September and October 2015); Written by Simon Spurrier, Art by Jeff Stokely

It's been a while since I reviewed The Spire, but you can read the about the previous issues here. Now the Tithebound, various tribes of nonhuman "skews", arrive at the Spire to pledge their allegiance once again. The Medusi (the people of our heroine, Shå) break protocol by escaping that they be allowed to take the fugitive Soulbreaker with them. That's complicated by the fact nobody knows what the Soulbreaker looks like.

Meanwhile, Shå is trying to catch a serial killer who's stalking the Spire--and seems to be able to get into locked rooms and disappear swiftly. A dagger with an unusual symbol is left at one of the crime scenes.

We also find out that Shå's past is a bit mysterious. She awakened in Spire with a note telling her what she was and that she needed to hide or be killed. She also has been an adult in the city for a long time. For over 30 years, in fact.

A cloaked and masked figure attacks the head of the medusi contingent. Shå arrives too late to stop it, but soon enough to be mistaken for the Soulbreaker by the other medusi.

After a brief skirmish, the mistake is rectified. The medusi tell her they're about to be sent on a mission--a suicide mission--by the Baroness and they ask her to intercede.

Shå has her own problems with the royals. The Baroness publicly chastises her for not catching the murderer yet. She's also in the doghouse with the Baroness' sister-- Shå's girlfriend--because she found out Shå never told her age.

The whole Spire has got bigger problems. The Zaorim are massing for war.