Black Star RPG - The Crew: Kasra Voth

 One of the first things I do when learning/studying a new RPG, even a rules lite one is to make up a character.  Thus, Kasra Voth came into existence, I also made up his alien race kind of on the fly, the Xaeksians, a race of humanoid aliens, from a stormy, cloud heavy moon, giving them the innate Talent of Night Vision.  

Kasra

Name: Kasra Voth

Species: Xaeksian

Archetypes: Outlaw, Soldier

Resolve 7

Wealth 0

Blasting 3                   Brawling 2  

Diplomacy 1              Discipline 1

Instinct 2                    Intellect 2

Speed 3                      Strength 2

Tools 2                        Transports 2

 Talents

Outlaw

Underworld

Soldier

Quick Draw

(Species Talent) Night Vision

Flaw: Secret- Kasra once provided information to the Authorities, betraying certain Underworld elements to save his own hide, he hopes this betrayal never comes to light.

(Bonus Talent) Thief

Gear:

Link: A personal communicator, computer, and holo-viewer.

Pulse Pistol

Lighter

Backpack

Pulse Rifle

Survival Kit

      Kasra is from the polluted, dark and storm clouded moon of Xaeksa 4. He grew up in the urban underbelly of the moon’s main starport, and was orphaned at an early age (his parents were allegedly Rebel sympathizers and were taken away by Imperial Authorities never to be seen again).  He turned to a life of crime to support himself, and grew up hating the Imperials, his parents, and the Rebels.   He was a decent enough thief, and outlaw, and found he had a talent for fighting as well.  Working as an enforcer in the criminal underworld, he was on a job that went sideways, that led to his capture by the authorities. Rather than face a lifetime of working the mines, he ratted out some high-level criminal elements, and in exchange was given a reduced sentence that allowed him to escape and flee to the Black Star Sector.  His deep fear is that the Underworld elements that he betrayed will one day learn of his betrayal and come to seek vengeance.  He spent time working as a soldier in a local baron’s garrison for a time, but when the baron captured and was going to hand over Cyrha, a suspected Resistance Operative to the Imperium, he found himself having a crisis of conscious and helped Cyrha escape, now they have fled Baron’s forces and find themselves out on their own, unlikely partners trying to survive.   

Note- I'm considering using Wretched Space as Campaign Inspiration, Black Star has a "not" Star Wars vibe, which is cool, but I may end up using some of the options from the Wretched Space setting.  May change this moving forward, we shall see...

Oh, and the image is AI art that I generated.  I'm no artist, but I like having visual representations when I can. 

Grizzly Devils; Adventures in Wretched Space Part 4

 Continuing where we left off... Grizzly Devil Squad had made the risky decision to try to cross Crustacean Caverns as a short cut to get to the location of the MIA Iron Badger squad.  What they had not expected was to run into a massive territorial brawl between giant crustaceans and giant cave mollusks. The things were all around them!  Skitters advanced sensors helped them avoid some of the beasts, but a fight was unavoidable. 

Simply Clawful!

Skitter and Heath were hit hard, being on point, but no one was left unscathed during this awful fight.  The things were everywhere, on the walls the floors. It was a brutal fight.  

     Unfortunately, many of the creatures stopped fighting each other to go after these new, soft targets.  Shalonna found a way out of this awful situation, but it would require them to run down the dangerous Toxic Tunnels.

     Once again Skitters sensors found the best way through the toxic waste, but the vile chemicals corroded the little droid and finished off what the crustaceans hadn't.  Heath bravely used his cyber eye to get them the rest of the way through the polluted tunnel, but he too succumbed to this awful place. Kadin tried to help him, but she was sick from the toxins as well, and there was nothing to be done for him.  

    Then they realized they were turned around and lost, only the way finding skills of Shalonna got them back on track, but this long detour proved to be too much for Druce and he died from his injuries. 

     Grimly they knew they were finally at their destination. Bits of broken gear and blood, signs of a fight, and a dead rebel, one of the lost Iron Badgers. Shalonna found signs of Bone Apes in the area. Stealthily approaching the signs of a Bone Ape camp. They spotted their quarry, a group of Bone Apes and two captive Iron Badger Rebels, beaten and hurt but alive! 

The Grizzly Devils, hurt and worn, they knew what they had to do, they jumped the Bone Apes and a fierce fight ensued!

Thats when they lost Kadin, they thought they'd killed all the Bone Apes, but one rose up just long enough to get a kill shot at Kadin while she tried to stop Mungo from bleeding out.  Mungo and Kadin died right there.  Shalonna bloody as hell, sliced off the Bone Apes head with one blow, before nearly collapsing herself.  

That left just Rogue One and Shalonna left alive of the Grizzly Devils, and the two Iron Badgers could barely walk. Shalonna was moving on willpower alone.  Trying to find some healing supplies in the Bone Ape camp, one of the Iron Badgers triggered a trap which cost him his life and severely injured Shalonna.  

     Rogue One basically carrying Shalonna and dragging the only surviving Iron Badger started the slow crawl back to the Vault.  However, the Bone Apes weren't done yet.  A small group of Bone Apes attacked.  Rogue One went into a frenzy. 

   Shalonna was killed in the first round of their attack, but somehow, someway the Rogue Clone Trooper defeated them.  Rogue One took Shalonna's necklace, slung the barely conscious Iron Badger rebel over his shoulder and made the long walk back to the Vault.  Grizzly Devil Squad...was no more.   

Grizzly Devils - R.I.P. 

Grizzly Devil Squad Part 3 Adventures in Wretched Space

                                                             

                                        

Continuing the Adventures of The Grizzly Devils.

For this one I tapped into using Mythic Game Master Emulator, to add some interesting elements to the game. Where mechanics were required, I utilized the Wretched Space RPG. 

Reporting in from their last mission. Our crew was debriefed by base Commander Abrams and thoroughly checked over by Dr. Goodwin. The Commander had lots of questions about the psychic attack they had endured, as well as the eerie blue glowing structures they had found. Dr. Goodwin ran several strange tests on the squad. Eventually both seemed satisfied that the squad weren't under the influence of some "other" force or influence, and after they had healed up, they were cleared to return to duty.  

Commander Abrams - No nonsense, tough, and determined leader. The unsaid rumor is he is actually a transhuman cloned from the DNA of the real Abraham Lincoln...but that's impossible right?? 

Doctor Goodwin- Odd and eccentric, has a interest in psychic forces and energies. More of a (mad) scientist than a medical doctor, although he has some medical skill. He has been able to reverse engineer some of the alien tech found in the reaches of the massive alien Vault.

     The team had been barely cleared for duty, when Commander Abrams gave them a new assignment.  Bone Apes had ambushed two other teams (The Black Salamanders and The Iron Badgers), on the fringes of their territory. One rebel had been killed and several rebel fighters were seriously injured, with three members of The Iron Badgers MIA. 

     Any further explorations of the glowing blue ruins would have to wait until this latest threat was dealt with and any surviving Iron Badgers rescued/recovered. Doc Eldred would be pulled from the squad to assist with the wounded that had been brought in. While Doc Eldred was a skilled doctor and a veteran of many conflicts, his age was making it harder for him to crawl around in the dark and dangerous tunnels that connected the different vaults found in this ancient ruined underworld, his skill set would be better suited to working in the medical ward of the Vault. Combat Nurse Kadin would need to cover the combat medic needs of the squad for now. To replace the losses of Hector and Simon Luther, and the reassignment of Doc Eldred. The Grizzly Devils would be getting three new members.  Rogue One a combat clone that had been able to overcome its mental conditioning and had joined the rebel cause.  Druce, skilled forager, hunter and scrounger (finding supplies and resources had been a problem last mission, and Commander Abrams intended to quickly fix this deficit on the squad). The last new member to be assigned to the team was Heath, a veteran rebel and skilled tunnel fighter. 

Rogue One -Clone Trooper, he beat his mental conditioning/programming and has joined the Rebel Resistance Forces. Tough as Nails! 

Druce- One of the best foragers and scroungers within the rebel forces.  Not a people person, but when you are low on food and supplies he has a knack for turning up things just when they are needed the most. 

Heath- Ex-Galactic Federation Soldier, skilled scout and point man, lost his right eye to Bone Apes, now has a Cyber Eye, that's particularly useful to see in the darkened tunnels that connect the vaults (that is when it works properly). 

They would also be taking a SearchMaster Droid with them, while the rebels only have a limited number of droids, bots and special vehicles, Commander Abrams deemed this mission important enough to risk the use of one of their Special Droids. 

SearchMaster-9000  aka "Skitter"- A versatile rescue/exploration droid, equipped with a plethora of cameras and sensors. It can navigate through rubble and debris and squeeze into tight spaces. 

Leaving the main part of the Rebel controlled vault, they noted that even old Granny and her War Poodle Gladys were on alert and stationed to help secure the vault's access points to the main Tunnels. 

Granny- Veteran Rebel, she's forgotten more about fighting against Galactic Federation tyranny and corruption than most rebels will ever know. 

Gladys - War Poodle, while not fearsome or scary in any way, she has a keen sense of smell, that has saved many a rebel from a Bone Ape ambush and has carried much needed ammo and supplies to tunnel fighters in need. 

     With a final clack, the vault door locked into place behind them.  The Grizzly Devils moved out; time was of the essence.  If any of the Iron Badgers were still alive, they'd need to get to them quickly. Bone Apes were known to eat their captives alive!  

     To make better time, it was decided to cut through the Crustacean Caves... a group of very large caverns just outside of rebel-controlled territory.  The caves had unusual subterranean flora and fauna. Weird tentacled plant life and giant crustaceans and mollusks that fed upon them and each other....

Heath and Skitter were on point, Shalonna was up next, followed by Mungo, Combat Nurse Kadin and Duce (who was quite interested in seeing if any of this weird flora could be harvested), Rogue One was keeping a careful watch on their 6, Bone Apes could and would attack from behind whenever possible. 

Skitter's sensors went into overdrive, something big was moving in the large cave up ahead, actually a lot of somethings...Heath's cybernetic eye, picked it up as well.

Gigantic Cave Crustaceans were battling it out with Giant Cave Mollusks!  Could the squad find a safe way through this critter war?...backtracking would cost them a lot of valuable time? There were too many of these things to fight right?... 

To be continued...

Solo Gaming; Adventures of Grizzly Devil Squad Part 2

 This post continues the adventures of the Rebel Tunnel Fighters.  Part One is available here

Our Squad, The Grizzly Devils, had made it to the outskirts of their territory (a day's journey, in and of itself). Being especially careful and watchful, they made their way to the newly discovered tunnels. Hector, ever sure of his abilities, took point and following the directions the scouts had provided to Simon Luther, after a few hours trek, they found the newly discovered tunnels and cautiously entered. 

                                                Hector

The Caverns of the Pustulent Slime Shrooms

After a day's journey down this newly discovered dark tunnel, they started to see an eerie blue glow emanating from somewhere further down the tunnel.  Soon they noticed a disgusting, yellow, almost pus like slime dripping from the ceiling. Hector noted it even had a foul odor like pus.  

The tunnel continued on for hours. as the glow seemed to be ever ahead. Meanwhile the slime thickened and increased starting to drip and ooze more on the floors and ceiling, this made travel take even longer. Several times Hector would scout an area ahead only to have to double back and retrace his route.  Hours into this disgusting mess, the group realized the slime had managed to permeate their rations and much of their water supply.  They'd have to forage for food and drinking water to have enough and stopping to rest here was impossible. Eventually the tunnels opened into large chamber with massive mushrooms towering from the muck. All dripping that same foul pus-like slime.  They had to make camp here, everyone was exhausted. No one got any rest and what water they had left that wasn't contaminated wasn't going to last long. 

Continuing on their journey through the Slime Fungi caves was difficult and challenging.  Hector on point, took the worst of it, trying to find a safe route through the slimy caves, backtracking and trying again, others offered to take point, but Hector took it as a point of pride to be Point man on this expedition. The slime caves took a toll on everyone, but impacted Hector the most. Hector used up all his water and food rations and the rest of the squad all had to go deeply into their resources to get through this challenge. Once through this foul system of tunnels and caves, everyone was extremely low on rations and almost out of clean drinking water. 

The source of the blue glow seems to be up ahead...

Hector could make out some type of ruined structures ahead, the bluish glow was still emanating from…somewhere up ahead, and yet was all around the chamber at the same time…what was he seeing...?  Ancient stone carvings? Were those Sarcophagi? Then movement from a side passage...

What is that thing?!!

While our squad had no name for it, the official name of the beast would become Eldritch Mind Warper! Only partially existing in a physical form, the monster emanated powerful waves of negative psychic energy and it was aggressive, very aggressive!  The squad had prepped for a fight with Bone Ape Tunnel Fighters! Not Psychic Warp Beasts! No one in the squad was trained in the methods to defend against such a monster!                                                                                                                                                                                    

     Hector was killed immediately, already weakened from the difficult route through the Slime Fungi Caves, The Eldritch Mind Warper ripped Hector’s mind to shreds, killing him instantly.  The entire squad was mentally attacked all at once by powerful waves of psychic force. Simon Luther went down next, and Mungo came close to death’s door! Only by expending what reserves they had left did they manage to survive. They threw everything they had at the beast engaging in a running fight with it in the large cavern. Even with that they only just barely managed to defeat the creature. At the end of the fight, Hector and Simon Luther were dead. Mungo severely injured and the remaining squad members were all injured, weak and dangerously low on resources. 

R.I.P. Hector and Simon Luther

     They paused to bury their two fallen comrades; it was too far back to attempt to carry the bodies all that way. Doc Eldred said a few words, and what could pass as a prayer.  Kadin said Amen in a quiet voice, while Mungo and Shalonna stood in grim silence.

     The fight with the Mind Warper had diverted the squad from their previous trail, less skilled individuals would have become hopelessly lost and died out there. Fortunately, Shalonna’s skills as a Way Finder allowed the squad to find their way and make it back to safety.  Their home territory had never looked so good. Tired, and dehydrated, they trudged onward. 

     On the edge of the rebel controlled tunnels they encountered a rebel patrol, Gilbert and Brone along with a trusty AT3. Gilbert told the squad they looked like hell, while sharing his water and rations. Brone said they'd heard scouts report of Bone Ape sightings in the Western Tunnels but the patrol hadn't seen anything.  The patrol escorted the exhausted team back to the Rebel Vault. They said little during the journey. 

                                                 Gilbert

                                                  Brone

                         AT3 (All Terrain Tunnel Tractor)

     The mission had been challenging and difficult in unexpected ways.  They had lost two members of the squad. But in fighting the Eldritch Mind Warper, Mungo and Shalonna had learned ways to enhance their mental defenses, which would hopefully help them be better equipped for psychic attacks in the future.  And as Simon Luther (R.I.P.) had suspected the Caves of the Slime Fungi did in fact provide a route around the Bone Ape territories, but risking an encounter with another Mind Warper, might not be worth the risk. That would be for the chain of command to decide. Along with whether or not the risk of investigating those strange glowing "coffins"  was worth it.

     Under the care of Doc Eldred and Kadin, everyone healed up.  A somber service was held for their two fallen comrades, and they pondered their next mission. Healed up back at Hecate's Pub, they said a toast to Hector and Simon Luther. 

Factum Solo Gaming! Adventures of Grizzly Devil Squad Part 1

     Reading The Lizard Man Diaries post about Post Factum Solo play inspired me to do some gaming today.  We are under a severe heat advisory, so this gives me an excuse to stay indoors today.  All the images were generated with online AI art tools, I'm no artist, so this allows for some visuals. I've used some tables from Knave, and the Lizard Man Diaries blog to fill in gaps as needed. I'm sort of building the setting/campaign as I go based on random generators, and bits of inspiration here and there. At this point the characters are part of a group of Rebel Freedom fighters, their base is an ancient Vault they have uncovered deep underground. Lots of tunnels, caves, and abandoned ruins exist. The surface world is unsafe/uninhabitable? and most of the tunnels and caves are unexplored. The Rebels are hanging on by the skin of their teeth, and are in desperate need of new equipment, tech, allies and resources.  Unless something changes, their cause is lost and the corrupt Galactic Federation forces will prevail.  Perhaps something of crucial value can be found within the ancient tunnels and ruins that dot this underground realm? Oh and just to make things more challenging, the Rebels are not the only sentients down here. A group of militant apes (the Rebels call them Bone Apes), control many of the tunnels and caves, and are extremely aggressive and territorial. All attempts at peaceful negotiation with them have failed up to this point.  

     If I ever get a chance to run Wretched Space for a group, I'm thinking the stuff worked up here could work nicely with that setting. So many games, so little time.  Anyways let's get started, shall we? 

     The Rebel Tunnel Fighters, were relaxing in Hecate’s Pub, having some much-needed downtime.  This group, known as The Grizzly Devils (Grizzly Devil Squad), consists of Hector (battle trained point man), Simon Luther (wise and skillful), Mungo (probably the best fighter in the squad), Doc Eldred (older, but highly skilled in medicine), Kadin (skilled combat medic, and forager usually works as Doc’s nurse), and the mysterious Shalonna (battle trained, and skilled with way finding).

                                               Hector

                                             Simon Luther

                                             Mungo

                                              Doc Eldred

                                               Kadin

                                            Shalonna

Simon Luther, mentioned rebel scouts had recently found a strange tunnel that opened into a group of larger tunnels and natural caverns, potentially providing access to the Unexplored Regions.  If this area could be further explored, it might lead to the discovery of some useful resources, as well as a route around their main rivals for control of the Tunnels the fearsome Bone Apes. The mission would be dangerous, but the rewards could be significant.  Hector, always up for a challenge, said he would take point on such a mission and the rest of the squad agreed it was worth doing.  

They geared up in Storeroom Tango and prepared to head out. They equipped themselves for combat and exploration. While no Bone Apes had been spotted by the scouts near the entrance to these newly discovered tunnels, there was always a strong possibility of getting into a firefight with the highly territorial and aggressive beasts. 

                                              Goron

They departed the section of the ancient vault the rebels were using as their main base, the ever-Vigilant Goron was on watch duty and wished them luck, they could tell by the look in his eyes that he wished he was going with them. He discreetly gave Kadin a bonus ration to take with her "just in case". 

One of the few working All Terrain Tunnel Tractors (AT3's for short), escorted them to the edge of Rebel Territory. From here on they would be on their own...

To be continued.....

Scorched

 

Scorched , an apocalyptic sci fi rpg from Bloat Games. 

"This game is based on the simple concept, "What if Luke never left Tatooine?"

It's definitely heavily Star Wars inspired with a side of Mad Max thrown in for good measure."

I picked this one up awhile back, haven't had a chance to use it in a game/campaign yet.  Was moving some books around in my game room and rediscovered it.  Good stuff.  I need to work this into my gaming rotation.