Free Mars Resource For Your Old School Science Fantasy Campaign - Barsoom! From Heavy Metal Magazine By Richard A Lupoff

 

  This is not the article's artwork but its a favorite classic Amazing stories cover featuring one of my
favorite Burroughs stories

Grab It Over
HERE

With the Warriors of the Red Planet retroclone due any day now I need a fast way to reintroduce Barsoom to a few jaded old school friends. Some of these folks had never read the Edgar Rice Burroughs classics of Barsoom!  I didn't want to get into a whole lot of hassle but how to give the highlights and put my players in the spirit of the books?
Heavy Metal Magazine had exactly what I needed with this article about Edgar Rice Burroughs and Barsoom. All of the highlights are touched on and there's some excellent old school artwork by Clyde Caldwell in the article as well.
According to the Internet Archive :
Article about author Edgar Rice Burroughs, published in September 1982 issue of Heavy Metal magazine. Illustrated by Clyde Caldwell.
 All of the quick highlights of Barsoom are touched on and the artwork covers most of the major characters, creatures, and Martian races. All in all its not a bad introduction to ERB's Barsoomian adventures and it's a quick read as well. So I thought I'd share with you folks. 
This post is for entertainment and educational  purposes only and no violation of the author nor the artist's trade marks or copy rights is being implied here.
Thank you. 

Free Old School Pulp Download 'The Martian Circe' By Ramon F Jones From the Summer 1947 issue of Planet Stories magazine For Your Old School Martian Campaign

 

You can download the novella here. 

Mars has been my imagination's home since I was a kid & many a night was spent working my way through piles of my uncle's ancient Pulp magazine collection. And that brings up 'The Martian Circe' By Ramon F Jones  From the Summer 1947 issue of Planet Stories magazine. 'The Martian Circe' echoes through with the Pulpy voice of Ramon F. Jones & his Mars is an almost settled colonial world on the edge of the solar system; 

 'Who was this sweet-voiced singer weaving a spell of dreams and drugs that drove men mad and threatened to smash the System? SBI Captain Roal Hartford dared the death of the Thousand Minds to learn her dreadful secret!' 

So we've entered the world of Captain Roal Hartford agent of  the Solar Bureau of Investigation. And his is the world of the Martian underworld & therefore the  perfect foil for adventurers & scoundrals. But who was Ramon F. Jones?! According to his wiki entry; "Raymond Fisher Jones (November 15, 1915, Salt Lake City, Utah - January 24, 1994, Sandy, Salt Lake County, Utah) was an American science fiction author. He is best known for his 1952 novel, This Island Earth, which was adapted into the 1955 film This Island Earth and for the short story "The Children's Room", which was adapted for television as Episode Two of the ABC network show Tales of Tomorrow, first aired on February 29, 1952.'

'Jones' career was at its peak during the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. His stories were published mainly in magazines such as Thrilling Wonder Stories, Astounding Stories, and Galaxy. His short story Noise Level is known as one of his best works. His short story "The Alien Machine", first published in the June, 1949 Thrilling Wonder Stories, was later expanded into the novel This Island Earth, along with two other short stories, "The Shroud of Secrecy", and "The Greater Conflict", known as The Peace Engineers Trilogy, featuring the character Cal Meacham. Jones also wrote the story upon which the episode "The Children's Room" was based for the television program Tales of Tomorrow in 1952. " 

'The Martian Circe' concerns a phantom tavern 'the Starhouse' the venue for The Queen of the Silver Stars'  that has been drifting around the Martian cityscapes & taking out the souls & sanity of solar system miners. Harmeena is a gas like agent of the Martian Harm plant that causes those who inhail its gases to save vs poison or suffer horrifying visions as per a Fear spell.  And 'Starhouse' operates out of one of the Martian Capital cities  Heliopolis. Heliopolis is the center of the wizened and withered Martians of Mr. R Jones tale. The Jones Martians as I've taken to calling them are +3 to their Constitution, +1 on Intelligence, -2 on Charisma, & +1 on Wisdom as they are an ancient race of Mars. And they barely tolerate humanity on their end of Mars. And the Jones Martians  lead deeply into the mystery of the phantom singer Alayna The Queen of the Silver Stars. 
And this makes it perfect as a folio for an Infinite Mars campaign which is a combination of Stars Without Number and Worlds Without Number combined with Warriors of the Red Planet. 

Humanity produces a subtle radiation that is harmful to the Jones Martians & the Martians are planning on using Harmeena as one of the weapons of conquest. Any human who has exposure to the drug for more then two months becomes open to Martian telepathic mind control. And this is the secret of Starhouse, the tavern is an illusion that can be projected onto any human mind anywhere on Mars. And this is all due to the Thousand Minds. The Thousand Minds is the secret & highly advanced psionic ruling  body on Mars of the Jones Martians. The Thousand Minds can see through & control every Jones Martian on Mars. The Thousand Minds are the real masters of the Jones Martians & for the moment only use the 'Starhouse' to distribute Harmeena among every facet of human society including rich humans & gamblers who are looking for the seedier side of Mars. 
The situation in Heliopolis & the other Jones Martian human cities is a ticking time bomb and only he destruction of the Thousand Minds will save humanity. They are located in a series of Jones Martian  burrows outside of Heliopolis bout five miles or so from the city. 
The Martian capital cities  of  Heliopolis is actually an old Welysan city state that was taken over by the Jones Martians. The Jones Martians themselves are products left behind by the Welysan super science prototypes  in the wake of the failed Earth invasion of the early 19th century. Jones Martians gain +1 on Intelligence & can automatically transition into the psychic discplines of Stars Without Number. They gain -2 on all physical attributes. Jones Martians are a subrace of the Martian humanoid races artificially created more then 10,000 years ago by the Welysans as a genetic test bed for the impending Earth invasion. The genetic cloning templates were abandoned and left in the ruins of the city states various underground labs.
Humanity resurrected these genetic clones and has used them as workers, scientists, etc. Now Mars itself is on the verge of rebellion and this gives opportunities for adventure. 

Free Old School Pulp Download 'Under the Sand-Seas' January 1941 issue of Super Science Stories For Your Old School Post Apocalpytic Solar System Campaign

"Six hundred miles of devouring red desert lay between them and the nearest city -- and the bust of a long-dead Martian smiled with the knowledge that could get them there!"

It's been a long while since we've looked at 'Under The Sand Seas' by  Oliver E.Saari from the January 1941 issue of Super Science Stories magazine before. But this time we're going to dive in deeper into the nineteen page novellette. 

"Under The Sand Seas' follows the crew of an air plane on a Sciencitific expediation deep into the 'Sand Seas' when their plane crashes into an enourmous magnetic anomly. The plane doesn't survive and begins to take on sand. All around the crew there are tumble weed like Martians. And the magnetic anomaly is in  point of fact actually an ancient Martian crypt opened by telepathy. 
The Sand Sea is incredibly dangerous capable of swallowing a man whole easily without a trace. The weeds are a race of semi intelligent wind evolved beings who are blown about by the fierce winds of the Sand Sea. The only hope is the battery powered five or six man sled the party has w
The Sand Sea itself is the blasted remains of the Ancient Ones one of the first races of Mars ruled by Tarum of the last of the Scientist Kings. Tanrum the Last perfected infinite atomic energy using the element of gold as it's atomic fuel. And that infinite energy was used a Super Science weapon and the result was the Sea of Sand! The weapon caused the  complete destruction of the Ancient Ones civilization. 
And the expediation worries that it might cause destructive issues upon the Earth. 
What are the OSR game applications of Under The Sand Seas' by  Oliver E.Saari? Quite a few actually. The infinite atomic energy weapon systems are very dangerous. And that brings up the defense capabilities of the systems themselves. The fact is that these weapons systems must have been designed to kill some very dangerous monsters or an evil race. And this is where the Hyperborea rpg comes into play. Not only does the Sea of Sand have other artifacts within it but the sea itself must have areas of extreme radiation due to atomic weapons being tested or deployed. Now it be that these infinite atomic energy systems were created by the Ancients to combat the Hyperboreans?! It's possible given the time frame and the fact that the Professor discovered the atomic generation's secrets within Tanrum the Last's crypt. The fact that those secrets were spelled out on the writings on the walls of the crypt. 

You can download 'Under the Sand-Seas' January 1941 issue of Super Science Stories here 

Spider Infestation - A Warriors of The Red Planet & Hyperborea rpg - Actual Play Event

 " Deep in the wastelands near the dead city of Aaanthor a party of stawart adventurers plods their way through the ruins in search of artifacts belonging to a tribe of intelligent White Apes. The Stellar Legion has sent our intrepid team of adventurers & agents deep into the wastes of Mars looking for artifacts stolen from the tribe of  Green Martian Torquas in order to spark an interstellar war. "

So session account is going to pick back up from here.  And our player's PC found themselves in the city of Ignarh listening to the story of an NPC treasure hunter Jarret Minus  who got on the wrong side of a Green Martian Torquas warrior. The PC's  are a gang  of   Stellar Legion Hyperborean, Venusian,  Martian outlaws, adventurers, & veterans who have been looking for the at big score on Mars. But in actuality are a group of agents dealing with the colonial pressures of this version of Mars. And we've gone back to using a combination of Colonial Troopers, Mutant Future, the Hyperborean rpg Player's Guide, & Warriors of the Red Planet as the basis for this campaign. The player's PC's rented a flyer straight out of Ignarh & headed towards Aaanthor & they made it without incident! Taking a look around the deserted city they found piles of dead green Martians! And they ran straight into a swarm of deadly alien giant spiders! There are not supposed to be any Spru'sth on Mars. The planet has been settled for ages now. Sure there's the occasional frontier point. 

The player's PC's dropped the down & out adventurer act then went full psycho soldier on the spiders. 

The party then began blasting with laser crossbows, machine guns, and several plasma  grenades. And the party radioed for a pick up from a friendly flyer jockey who happened to be in the area. 

And then they arranged a meet up with the  Torquas Jeddak through the party's rogue princess. And the green warriors were beyond angry  through a combination of good rolls, bribry, and some concessions the party made headway. The player's then sent in three scouts including Sargent Wolf whose incharge of the other scouts to investigate the situation. 

Wolf mutant from Bronze Age Miniatures available here. 

And when the scouts infiltrated the ruined city they found there were signs of a queen. And then the green warrriors swarmed in with guns blazing. The rest of the party hung back as the Torquas took back their city. The party did a clean up sweep and played back up as the stronger green warriors made headway to take out the hive's queen. 

The party's cleric & black circle necromancer made several grisly discoveries including implanted colonists, several bio borgs, and other means of expanding the hive's terrority across the face of Mars. 
Is this going to be a one shot?! Recent reading up on several OSR game supplements convinced us to retry this style of play. But it remains to be seen if a post apocalyptic Mars game is going become a regular campaign again. 

Free Old School Pulp Download 'The Martian Circe' By Ramon F Jones From the Summer 1947 issue of Planet Stories magazine For Your Old School Martian Campaign

You can download the novella here. 

Mars has been my imagination's home since I was a kid & many a night was spent working my way through piles of my uncle's ancient Pulp magazine collection. And that brings up 'The Martian Circe' By Ramon F Jones  From the Summer 1947 issue of Planet Stories magazine. 'The Martian Circe' echoes through with the Pulpy voice of Ramon F. Jones & his Mars is an almost settled colonial world on the edge of the solar system; 

 'Who was this sweet-voiced singer weaving a spell of dreams and drugs that drove men mad and threatened to smash the System? SBI Captain Roal Hartford dared the death of the Thousand Minds to learn her dreadful secret!' 

So we've entered the world of Captain Roal Hartford agent of  the Solar Bureau of Investigation. And his is the world of the Martian underworld & therefore the  perfect foil for adventurers & scoundrals. But who was Ramon F. Jones?! According to his wiki entry; "Raymond Fisher Jones (November 15, 1915, Salt Lake City, Utah - January 24, 1994, Sandy, Salt Lake County, Utah) was an American science fiction author. He is best known for his 1952 novel, This Island Earth, which was adapted into the 1955 film This Island Earth and for the short story "The Children's Room", which was adapted for television as Episode Two of the ABC network show Tales of Tomorrow, first aired on February 29, 1952.'

'Jones' career was at its peak during the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. His stories were published mainly in magazines such as Thrilling Wonder Stories, Astounding Stories, and Galaxy. His short story Noise Level is known as one of his best works. His short story "The Alien Machine", first published in the June, 1949 Thrilling Wonder Stories, was later expanded into the novel This Island Earth, along with two other short stories, "The Shroud of Secrecy", and "The Greater Conflict", known as The Peace Engineers Trilogy, featuring the character Cal Meacham. Jones also wrote the story upon which the episode "The Children's Room" was based for the television program Tales of Tomorrow in 1952. " 

'The Martian Circe' concerns a phantom tavern 'the Starhouse' the venue for The Queen of the Silver Stars'  that has been drifting around the Martian cityscapes & taking out the souls & sanity of solar system miners. Harmeena is a gas like agent of the Martian Harm plant that causes those who inhail its gases to save vs poison or suffer horrifying visions as per a Fear spell.  And 'Starhouse' operates out of one of the Martian Capital cities  Heliopolis. Heliopolis is the center of the wizened and withered Martians of Mr. R Jones tale. The Jones Martians as I've taken to calling them are +3 to their Constitution, +1 on Intelligence, -2 on Charisma, & +1 on Wisdom as they are an ancient race of Mars. And they barely tolerate humanity on their end of Mars. And the Jones Martians  lead deeply into the mystery of the phantom singer Alayna The Queen of the Silver Stars. 

Humanity produces a subtle radiation that is harmful to the Jones Martians & the Martians are planning on using Harmeena as one of the weapons of conquest. Any human who has exposure to the drug for more then two months becomes open to Martian telepathic mind control. And this is the secret of Starhouse, the tavern is an illusion that can be projected onto any human mind anywhere on Mars. And this is all due to the Thousand Minds. The Thousand Minds is the secret & highly advanced psionic ruling  body on Mars of the Jones Martians. The Thousand Minds can see through & control every Jones Martian on Mars. The Thousand Minds are the real masters of the Jones Martians & for the moment only use the 'Starhouse' to distribute Harmeena among every facet of human society including rich humans & gamblers who are looking for the seedier side of Mars. 
The situation in Heliopolis & the other Jones Martian human cities is a ticking time bomb and only he destruction of the Thousand Minds will save humanity. They are located in a series of Jones Martian  burrows outside of Heliopolis bout five miles or so from the city. 

Review & Commentary On The Free issue #009 of the Cepheus Journal For the Cepheus Engine Rpg & 2d6 Family of Rpg's

Here comes  the free  issue #009 of the Cepheus Journal For the Cepheus Engine Rpg family of games. The Cepheus Engine rpg community is incredibly energetic to say the least about producing rpg content & the latest issue of this venerable downloadable magazine isn't an exception to this fan legacy. 

Right off the bat we get a fantastic Ian Stead cover & then dive into Ewan Spence's 2 RAR for Modern War & it does a good job of going into the material; "2nd Battalion Royal Australia Regiment for Modern War The 2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (2RAR) is an amphibious light infantry battalion of the Australian Army and forms part of the 1st Division Amphibious Task Group based at Lavarack Barracks in Townsville, Queensland." The article is detailed & well thoughtout. For Modern War this is a solid little article that does down scope into the military details of the Task Group. Modern War by Zozer games thrives on this level of detail. Raider's Lament by  Jo Jaquinta is a part of an on going series of stories & it captures the early old school Traveler rpg vibe quite nicely. 

Monster Capybara  by  Jo Jaquinta is both monster entry & total encounter for Sword of Cepheus. And itrs done in such a way to be played in one night or as a part of an ongoing campaign as an inserted encounter. Very nicely done. 

Interview with Paul Elliot by Brett Kruger  goes into some of Zozer Games back story & what the author's thoughts are. and its a well done interview. 
A pretty solid review of the Cepheus Deluxe rpg by Brett Kruger rounds out this section & its a very detailed review & solidly done. 

'The Sins of Last Winter' by Paul Drye is a Sword of Cepheus Rpg mini adventure set in a Winter location with all of the trimmings. There's some solid twists & turns as the adventure takes the party through some rather straight forward but harsh turns. 

'The Chambersburg sector' by y P­O Bergstedt gives a full mini sector for old school 2d6 science fiction games or a complete Cepheus Engine rpg sector. There's some real details here & its a nicely done sector to add to your own home game. 

'The Krampus' alien race by y P­O Bergstedt is perfect for adding a bit of that demonic & dangerous Christmas magic to your home Cepheus Engine rpg campaign. 

All in all issue #009 of the Cepheus Journal  was well done, very nicely thought out, & really brings home the heat of the ever expanding family of Cepheue Engine 2d6 rpg family of games! 

The Free  issue #009 of the Cepheus Journal Is Available For Download Here 

Legacies of Dread - X1 Isle of Dread by David Cook , & Tom Moldvay Campaign Commentary & Update

 When it comes to fall out from one module within my campaigns its got to be X1 Isle of Dread by David Cook , & Tom Moldvay , not only is this a great module for Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea. But its one of the modules that has the greatest impact by its connections deep into the Sea of Dread. 

Not only do you have deep connotations into a dinosaur filled realm but the opportunities of a lifetime. Because the Isle is on the lip of the Elemental Plane of Water it has a ton of adventure hooks built in. The Vaults of Pandius has Threshold magazine issue # 3 Sea of Dread, This OSR resource contains a ton of materials for bringing the party back to the Isle of Dread. 

The 'Sea of Dread' isn't a normal sea instead its a full on planar sea and this get's into the heart of using X1 for Sword & Sorcery OSR campaigns. The fact that anyone can become a castaway on the Isle of Dread. But why?! Because the isle is an advanced highly advanced science laboratory. Where the Kopru actually an evolutionary off shoot of the Mind Flayers?! They seem to have many of the characteristics?! Possible because the PC's are in the middle of the former Kopru empire itself on the island.  Races such as the as the racoon-like phanaton and the cat-like rakasta give X1 part of its "Lost World/Skull Island laboratory feel'

The Elder Things from H.P. Lovecraft's 'At The Mountains of Madness' made interplanar war on a ton of alien races. But we as humanity don't know the scale of such a war which technically could be on going. The reason that the isle of dread is in the plane of water is because the Elder Things sent it there! The resulting disaster took out the Kopru. Now I've covered this before on this blog in 'Another Mini OSR Campaign Idea Using - X1 Isle of Dread By David Cook & Tom Moldvay & Some Free Old School Appendix N Downloads' 

And its these legacies of dread which lead to planar doors being opened up across the multiverse. And these led to the Rump family of Tegel manor fame discovering this & exploiting it as a part of the slavers organization. This ties into the Scourge of the Slave Lords. How?! Next time we dive into it! 

An OSR Sword & Sorcery Twist or Two On The Free 'The Praise The Fallen' One Shot Dungeon

 There have been huge delays in delivery of Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea third edition because of issues with the global supply chain. And its effecting a ton of Kickstarters at the moment & that's fine. I wasn't expecting AS&SH 3rd till next year anyhow. Now that doesn't stop me from rooting around the AS&SH forums & I came across a few gems. And Handy Haversack delivers the dark magick goes with the monsters Empty Hands & Fingers of the Void.  
But what's note worthy is that he connects with Graphite Prime's blog post adventure 'Praise The Fallen' one shot dungeon ;"There were those demented powers that wanted to return all to naught, to become one with the Ever Slumbering Void.  Pantheons collided and the heavens shattered with war.  Untold cosmic powers were lost without their names ever spoken by mortal tongues.  Countless legions fell.  Defeated in their gambit of annihilation, they scattered across the universe.  Several of the Fallen, fell to this world, forever imprisoned at their point of impact..."

For an OSR Sword & Sorcery rpg one shot these resources are fantastic, flavorful, easy to use and very much in the vein of early Doctor Strange comic books style of magick. Another idea to add here is a trap or two with a 'Dead Fall Daemon' from the Ancient Vaults &  Eldritch Secrets blog. An entropic cult with a bunch of demons who maintain the tricks & traps is very much in keeping with the Sword & Sorcery vibe that's swirling around my brain. 

 

Thinking about different OSR one shot dungeons & pulling OSR elements from the blogsphere for an upcoming campaign. This one shot idea with some cool Sword & Sorcery monsters jumped out at me. And I thought I'd share. 

'Serpent Men On Mars!' - OSR Commentary On 'Sea Kings of Mars' from Thrilling Wonder Stories v34n02 (1949 06) & The 'Old Mars' Campaign Setting

 This post is going to pick right up from my 2019 post on this blog entry here " Further OSR Commentary On The Free 'Old Mars' Downloads For Your Old School Campaigns"

Download & Read Sea Kings of Mars Here

A quick rereading of  a copy of Sea Kings of Mars from Thrilling Wonder Stories v34n02 (1949 06) is one of Leigh Brackett's best.  Brackett's  writing about the serpentmen of Mars that's brought home one of my favorite villain races of Mars.  The Dhuvians, aka the Serpent Men: these are hated and feared by all Martians, these masters of super science were taught these forbidden knowleges by the very 'gods' themselves. Rhiannon being one of the Quiru, “hero gods who were human but superhuman.”  
Sea Kings has plenty of elements of Sword & Planet that can easily be brought into a campaign such as  the Tomb of Rhiannon,itself filled with all manner of bizarre super science weapons & devices. Its the fact that behind the Sark Empire of cruelty are the Dhuvians. And these serpent men have the cooperation of a 'god'. 
Sure the hero & the love interest both triumph over the odds in Sea Kings of Mars. It begs the question what happened to the the Dhuvians?! 
For my own post apocalytic Mars they woke up after the bombs fell & really got things really nasty from there. There are two OSR resources that I used for my own campaign when it comes to  the Dhuvians.  Oldskull Serpent Folk from Oldskull, aka Kent David Kelly has been my go to source for these guys. This book by itself has everything a DM needs to really bring home these serpent men villains. 

And when it comes to the Dhuvians then we've also got Gregorius21778: Ssssnake-Men! This product was  used to represent different tribal nations of serpentmen across their Martian empire. 

The Dhuvians  are going to be major antagonistic force in our upcoming campaign acting as villains & vile NPC's coming up! 

Boots on the Ground - Mini Cepheus Engine Hostile Setting & Campaign Starter With HOSTILE Situation Report 003 - Repellant By Paul Elliott

 "It's been a long trip through hyperspace, but now the stasis pods pop open and you get dressed. To your horror, you see on the bridge, that you are still in sanity-shredding hyperspace!

What's gone wrong? Why has the ship's mainframe awoken you? 

More importantly ... can you fix whatever needs fixing before you and the crew become insane?"

HOSTILE Situation Report 003 - Repellant is another bit sized adventure nugget from Zozer Games that puts the PC's in the middle of the space board action of the Hostile universe right away. With a new second colour edition of Hostile on the way. The HOSTILE Situation Report series has been flying fast & quickly. We've been getting lots of this series for the Cepheus Engine rpg or the 1970s 2D6 RETRO RULES to hit the ground with player's  PC's. 
HOSTILE Situation Report 003 - Repellant is a particularly dangerous encounter for the Hostile rpg setting putting players right into the middle of awakening in hyperspace. A sanity shattering version of the science fiction adventure campaign element. The PC's have their backs against the wall & have to ge their ship's systems back on line ASAP. Our recommendation?! Grab an  Introduction to HOSTILE  to get the campaign ball rolling right out of the gate! 

There's a desparatation to this particular adventure seed?! This is more like a fully fleshed out encounter with the PC's put into harm's way. The free Hostile Tool-Kits supplement is an essential tool for both the DM & players. And this adventure takes the PC's to the edge of their resources as PC's. Sanity & limb are at full on risk here. 

HOSTILE Situation Report 003 - Repellant is short, sweet, & self conrained. But its that tighness that makes the adventure work. It reminds me of those 'true to life danger' thrill movies based on a true story. All of the classic elements are here. The ship in danger, the high tension, high drama situation, and the eventual resolving of the dangers. But this isn't going to be an easy mission situation even for a Hostile rpg adventure. 

All in all we think that HOSTILE Situation Report 003 - Repellant  is a solid way of introducing a group of players to the Hostile uniiverse setting. 

Boots on the Ground - Mini Cepheus Engine Hostile Setting & Campaign Starter

"Introduction to HOSTILE is a short summary and taster of the popular gritty science-fiction roleplaying game called HOSTILE. Over 31 pages, find out what horrors and challenges your players will face, get a flavour of the types of harsh Off-World colonies that litter the setting and read about the task system and the kinds of characters it can create. 

The booklet features fiction from the setting, a complete shuttlecraft (including deckplan), a typical starship crew and over a dozen example plot hooks. Included is a complete list of all the HOSTILE supplements and companion roleplaying games produced so-far by Zozer Games. 

Open the hatch and step outside. Yes, its dangerous and you may die in one of a dozen horrific ways - but ... that's exciting isn't it...? "

In space no one can  hear you scream, & in Hostile sometimes its all about getting to know Paul Elliott's universe settting. For our little group its been a bit a pick up & go affair with Hostile. Because of the familiarity of the orginal Traveller & the  Stars Without Number rpg campaigns. These were inspired by Seventies & Eighties cultclassic Sci fi & Space Opera films. Hostile was no brainer intergalactic campaign setting. The fact that the DM's & players folded,spindle, & mutilated the high holy Hell out of it is another on going story. To deal with the intro you'll need 1970s 2D6 RETRO RULES to hit the ground with player's  PC's. 
For many Hostile is gonna make them scratch their heads?! Because its sorta like the Alien universe but not really?! The Introduction to Hostile pick up the ball off the pitch & begins running with it. In thirty one pages we get intro, deck plans, & lead in! What you get is the start of a mini campaign run! But what you'll really need is a quick intro adventure & encounter! Meet Hostile Situation Report 001 - Ghost Ship which gives you all of the basic encounter necessities to get you & your players off & running! 
A mayday signal draws the PCs to a lonely gas giant, and a starship in an extremely low, atmosphere-grazing orbit. There's no response ... can the crew be saved? Are they even still alive?

But ultimately you as the DM need an NPC villain?! Got you covered with Baosheng,who could be a villain or a valuable contact for the PC's depending upon the needs of the party. He plays a significant role in an upcoming campaign arch. But the secrets are as follows; "Meet Baosheng, a veteran Snakehead operating in the Off-World colonies. His syndicate specialises in techno-crime and the theft of shuttle craft. He has a job you might like ... it's just a pity you're a deniable asset and he is posing as a legit businessman. What could go wrong?" Well everything is going to! 

And that's sort of everything that you'll need to court a min campaign from the ground up & a very solid introduction to the Hostile universe. Except if you want to expand upon it. Which I strongly suggest two resources one is Zaibatsu which is one of the strongest 2d6  cyberpunk rpg  rule set's out there. And a solid copy of Moon Toad Games Cepheus Engine for reference & back up. 

Free Download Review & Commentary Classic Module Twist Up #1: The Desert of Desolation & The Classic Compilation module I3-5 Desert of Desolation

"Every DM & Player hold certain adventures in the realm of “favorites”. Ravenloft, Secret of Bonehill, Against the Cult of the Reptile God…etc. The unfortunate side effect though was we all learned them to a point where we just knew what was coming next. Whether treasures, traps, or secrets - most players will remember something no matter how hard they try role play around it. Never willing to give up a favorite the CLASSIC MODULE TWIST UP, (CMTU), series seeks to promote these classics by expanding or changing certain portions of the adventure without putting out materials that would violate copyright or allow the adventure to be played without at least knowledge of the original source material."

So reads the introductions for one of the lastest AD&D free downloads that I came across on Dragon's foot's site here.  Auhr Lanse's latest OSR efforts have produced an adventure variation on the Desert of Desolation super module. This thing is a beast at two hundred & five pages of free down load & supermodule twist up. What this beast does is completely take the Pharaoh, Oasis of the White Palm, and Lost Tomb of Martek then turns the adventure plots  on their  collective ear.  For those of you who don't know about the Desert of Desolation series's history here's the wiki entry breakdown; "Desert of Desolation is a compilation adventure module published by TSR for the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) fantasy roleplaying game. It combines three previously published individual modules: Pharaoh, Oasis of the White Palm, and Lost Tomb of Martek. The modules were made for use with the first edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D) rules. Pharaoh was created by Tracy and Laura Hickman soon after the couple married in 1977, and published by TSR in 1982. Oasis of the White Palm was a collaboration between Tracy Hickman and Philip Meyers, and Hickman wrote the Lost Tomb of Martek on his own; both were printed in 1983." All of these were collected into a super module back in Eighty Seven & there's lots of revisions; "The compilation module Desert of Desolation was printed in 1987.^[12] The compilation features a cover by Keith Parkinson.^[7]:101 It is a revision of the I3, I4, and I5 AD&D game modules, with additional design and revision by Peter Rice and William John Wheeler.^[13] Wheeler attempted to expand on the originals, without altering their tone.^[14] The adventures in Desert of Desolation are designed for a 5th-10th level party and have been reworked to fit into the Forgotten Realms setting, and the material was made compatible with the Wilderness Survival Guide rules.^[3] In the revision, the designers added additional background material, as well as staging tips for the Dungeon Master.^[13] The details of various elements that had been open-ended elements were spelled out.^[14] Desert of Desolation includes a 128-page adventure booklet, a sixteen-page maps booklet, and a large A1 sheet of maps and handouts.^[3] The compilation module contains new maps, including an isometric map of the tomb of Amun-Re.^[13] The revision also introduces ancient inscriptions for the players to decipher"

The author & designer goes through this same history but makes changes so that CMTU1 will work in ether Greyhawk or Forgotten Realms ; "When they were brought into the TSR lineup they were placed in the “I” series that included I1 Dwellers of the Forbidden City and I2 Tomb of the Lizard King. Both of these were in the Greyhawk Realms so most gamers of the time placed the three modules in The Bright Desert or Sea of Ash. In 1987 the series were put into The Desert of Desolation, (DOD), and placed in The Forgotten Realms. In the CMTU 1 several changes were made with hopes of adding new twists without taking away from the original adventure. CMTU1 will follow The DOD chapters listing the changes to be added and what areas to place them. As no part of The DOD were be placed in CMTU1 it is up to the DM to go through The DOD module prior to game play to make whatever notes or adjustments are needed" 
There are quite a few changes that Auhr Lanse's has made to the Desert of Desolation modules including theology, population density, placement of peoples & monsters, additional content, changes to adventure elements, etc. This twist up is gonna take months or years to play through & that's a good thing. Because it takes I3-5 in whole other directions. 

This makes Classic Module Twist Up #1: The Desert of Desolation  really worth the download in my opinion. And it takes the whole cloth direction of the NPC ghost of a long-dead Pharaoh in a whole other direction. We are not talking light weight adventure element but whole cloth new adventure path, NPC motivation, and more. Classic Module Twist Up #1: The Desert of Desolation is a complete campaign unto itself as long as the DM has the classic modules or the super module he or she is read to play. But you are literally talking almost years of play here. 

But is Classic Module Twist Up #1: The Desert of Desolation  good & worth the download?! For what it the CMTU1 does? Oh yes! This free download breaths new life into the classic line of modules & really messes with the expectations of old school players who have played through this classic module series.  With the recent release of Castles & Crusades Egpyptian line of mythus modules & supplements I can totally see using this module twist up easily with C&C.