OSR Review & Commentary On Mark A.Hunt's B/X Gangbusters Rpg

 "Gangbusters B/X the Roleplaying Game is set during the Roaring Twenties and Dirty Thirties. It has all the usual trappings of the period: Prohibition, mob bosses, Tommy gun-toting thugs, speakeasies, big hats, big cars, big personalities, swanky gin joints, illicit booze and crooked people out to make a quick dime, and more, but what the game is about is rather simple. It is at its core just a good old fashion game of Cops and Robbers. This is because it is set during a time when America produced some of its most notorious and legendary figures.  John Dillinger, ‘Scarface’ Al Capone, ‘Pretty Boy’ Floyd, ‘Baby Face’ Nelson, ‘Ma’ Barker, Bonnie & Clyde, Eliot Ness and the ‘Untouchables’, J. Edgar Hoover, Sam Spade, Philip Marlowe, and a host of others.   Whether you join the in the crusade to stamp out lawlessness or join in on the crime spree that is gripping America is up to you."



Some days you've got to take a break from the norm & journey into the roaring Thirties. This is where Mark A. Hunt's B/X Gangbusters rpg takes center stage. Now in one form or another I've been a Ganbusters rpg fan for a very long time. This game takes the classic & twists it just enough to make it highly recommended for the D&D crowd & the GangBuster fan. This is another Mark A.Hunt's efforts & falls right into the neo clone category. This book takes the classic Gangbusters game & works its right into Basic Dungeons & Dragons style of both system & play. It does this with hard core old school mechanics & solid playable options. B/X Gangbusters has this in spades. 
B/X Gangbusters takes the players with a very interesting variation of the alignment system that works as motivator for adventure with both mobs & murders. You've got Law vs. Neutrality vs. Dishonesty. This connects right back into the six levels of the PC classes of  Brutish, Connected, Educated, and Street Smart.  This means that murder,mayhem, & gang land action are right around the corner. 
All of this in sixty four pages & completely OSR compatible! But its where Mark draws from that sets this game apart! B/X Gangbusters draws heavily from the well of the Pulps as well as the Mob movies,novels,etc.And this is a perfect game for an evening's 'who done it' or a Philp Marlowe style Private Detective walk through adventure one shot. 

Done correctly & B/X Gangbusters can take a party of outlaws & hooligans into running your favorite crime ridden city as a campaign setting in the Twenties in time! The author knows his stuff & I can't wait for the Expert version to come out. Wander adversaries & dangerous thugs make play very dangerous indeed! The thing that comes across to me at least looking at B/X Gangbusters  is how clean, clever, & compact it is! There's just enough here to do a solid six level campaign without the BS that we find today with so many OSR rpgs. Things have to tacked on with other games. Not B/X Gangbusters just the basics & that's it with enough attention to detail to serious make this a fun & solid game! 

Now what would I use B/X Gangbusters to run an OSR setting? Ready?! Well given all of its B/X 'bells & whistles' I go the OSR route. Grab a copy of Trey Causey's Weird Adventures & go to 'The City'! From molls to infernal mob bosses B/X Gangbusters  is perfect for a Weird Adventures campaign! Want even more Weird Adventure madness check out this index. 

Mark A. Hunt does a slap dash job with B/X Gangbusters taking it too another level of excellence & fun! This is one not to miss! 

Commentary On A Weird Tales Or Sword & Sorcery Campaign Theme On Some OSR Resources & Adventures Featured In The Fifteen Percent Special Sale For Your Old School Campaigns

So the emails have rolled in asking all kinds of questions about OSR adventures, PC classes, etc. & which ones have merit and so forth. Alright this is based solely on my opinion and on the table experience as a dungeon master so your mileage may vary. Beyond the Ice Falls by  Raven God Games 

is very well done especially for a Viking or 1970's Marvel style Conan or Sword & Sorcery campaign. Grab any of their stuff because its done by Joseph D. Salvador. Yes the same author who did more then a few of the Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea adventures which are also under the same sale.


Next up is L. Kevin Watson Lovecraftian adventures for both fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons & the OSR, The Lost Temple of Forgotten Evil (5th Edition Fantasy- OSR) From  Fat Goblin Games.

This has definitely different take on the Lovecraftian material but its easily adaptable into either Astonishing or your favorite OSR system. DNA - The Buried Zikurat OSR Adventure is the second follow up adventure and continues in a similar vein but is whole separate from the first adventure. Its very well done & nicely written. These adventures are balanced and play their parts well for getting the weird feel of the Mythos across in the author's unique style.

Even though the following isn't on sale per say, I have to say I'm a huge fan of  Jeremy Reaban. The man writes good PC classes and excellent adventures that can easily be adapted across the board for OSR style games. His adventures are balanced professional and hit that OSR Sword & Sorcery fix just right. All of his OSR material is 'pay what you want' and I try to give the gentleman props every single time. His work is very well done & easily adapted to OD&D, B/X Dungeons & Dragons as well as similar retroclones.


Don't think that just because the big sale is one that older tried & true OSR companies don't have anything to offer. Goblinoid games springs to mind with the classic Wyrms & Warlocks adventure which offers DM's an interesting little side adventure that pits the PC's against a Medusa & her mate. There's also one of the prime Lovecraft  OSR books in my humble opinion on the block Realms of Crawling Chaos. This is perhaps one of the single best books for a DM to have in their arsenal. From PC classes to a full Lovecraft monster catalog this one has it all.


Any of the Barrel Rider Games PC's stuff is excellent fodder for a DM or players looking to add player character variety to their OSR games. There isn't enough time to go into the quality and variety of their offerings. Which brings me to one of the most unsung Weird Tales style offerings that came out way back when I first got into the OSR, I'm speaking of the excellent The Peoples of the Pit Adventure from Brave Halfling. 

Wicked, nasty, and a very dangerous ride for PC's;""The People of the Pit" is an excited adventure module for 4-6 player characters of levels 5-7 and has been designed for OSRIC(TM), but is easily compatible with the Advance Edition rpgs. The module was written by Alphonso Warden and features art by John Bignham." I've used this one countless times with Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea before I was even aware that there were adventures for that system! Yeah I'm a huge fan of Alphonso Warden & he does an excellent job with this adventure. His other adventure which I love is for Swords & Wizardry and its a great take on an old Lovecraft favorite of mine 'The Nameless City'. This is a freaking deadly little romp of a Lovecraftian adventure. The Nameless City (WhiteBox Rules) was an old favorite mine and still retains that Mythmere games reputation. Just remember that this is an adventure for PC's of level seven to ten. Unfortunately, The Nameless City isn't a part of the big Drivethrurpg sale.

Speaking of Weird Tales style books may I highly recommend  Ivanhoe Unbound 

Black Book series which is for original Dungeons & Dragons. There are two bundles which cover books one through five & books five through six in the other bundle.

This material covers everything from ancient astronauts, demons, to black powder gun rules. All for under three dollars USA.


Speaking of strange, dangerous, and completely weird, the first edition monster book Malevolent and Benign

from Expeditious Retreat Press  is well worth the price of admission. Its chalk full of all kinds of horrors, monsters and things waiting to meet your players and incredibly useful for constructing dungeons, adventures, and more.

'Where The Bat Flies' A Weird Adventures Actual Play Event!

Tonight was a bit different, as I had a chance together together with Steve, his brother Mark, and their other brother in arms  Marcus. Marcus wished to return to the 'Weird Adventures.'  Noir sub-setting I did a few years ago called New Gomorrah. New Gomorrah's the kinda place that mom warned you about and the mob settled there via Interzone. It was also the place where Eric Anderson the son of the Bat had fled on a tramp steamer after murdering a thaumaturgist, his apprentice, and having stole several mystical relics from the mage in Staak. This wasn't the first time that the adventurers had been hired to trace down Anderson. Anderson was a completely amoral piece of work(adventurer, thief, & villain for hire) and unlike his dad was able to slip between the cracks in the planes. He took up the Bat mantle ten years ago and really went to town with the racket cutting a swath throughout the underworld of Staak. 

The rumor of course is that he's got his hands on a crystal skull among other wonderful little trinkets, he bribed the right people and slipped away to New Gomorrah. Now the adventurers were on his tale.

Eric Anderson aka The Bat
wanted for murder, robbery, and a host of other crimes

The adventurers were Elliot Nesmithian retired city detective whose worked for some of the best including Samael T. Hazard. Elliot was a wise cracking son of acre whose suit was cut to house a specially made  pair of pearl handled .45. He was retired army after the war and had served with 'The City' for twelve years before taking one in the leg. His partner was killed by the Bat in a botched jewelry store heist. Elliot has sworn vengeance. Steve's Fighter 5th level. 

Sin Fang 'The Sorceress Extraordinaire' - A lady adventuress of rare beauty and incredible talent. The Fangs are a Yian family renowned in magick for generations.Sin is considered 'odd' for turning her back on the family underworld business and becoming a magician of pretty high caliber. Sin had a radio program 'The Sorceress's Hour', that was until the Bat murdered her co host on live radio.Disgraced she swore vengeance and only last year came close to bringing Eric Anderson to justice. Since then she's taken on case after hard boiled case to track the son of a bitch down. Seventh  level wizard. Mark's PC 

Chattanooga Chad 'The Man With the Midas Touch' Chad was a locksmith before the War, in fact he was one of the very best, it didn't matter if it was mechanical, magical, or alchemical locks, traps, or mechanisms. The Chattanoogas were the very lock smiths and worked for various police departments, the Army, the Freedonian Rangers, until the faithful day when Eric Anderson murdered Chad's brother right in front of him in cold blood. The brothers were in the wrong place at the wrong time and between the Bat and a shipment of jewels. For ten years Chad has tracked the Bat across the planes and back to the City again.He's now a thief for hire on the side of right.  Mark's 5th level thief/adventurer. Amazing that three men can fall into each others company in a dry dusty bar out in the middle of a Freedonian border town. Now their on the trail of the Bat once again. And tonight they almost lost their lives!


In tonight's game they tracked the bastard to his hideout in a sub basement, instead they almost bought it as a Neo plastic blob  filled the place after one of the adventurers opened a closet and rolled a one. A dexterity check and suddenly one of the others grabbed him and pulled Chad away. His expensive shoe wasn't so lucky though. The menacing laughter filled the place and the bat flew the coop!

 New Gomorrah
New Gomorrah is the city at the center of the world, an alternative Eastern Sea board New York City filled with all of the elements of  the City and with the addition of masked vigilantes and adventurers. This is the quintessential  pulp city of so many dime novels. A place of high adventure, occult mystery, and strange mysteries and magic. Is it any wonder that the 'Bat' feels at home here? And its a place that comes into phase at night with both the City and the Beyond.


The city is host to its own brand of adventurers and heroes many times drifting in when the City's long shadows pull on the dimensional  fabric of  New Gomorrah allowing passage between the two worlds. Travel is infrequent, strange, and very dangerous and yet people do it as a matter of course.
More on New Gomorrah coming up soon.

Notes from Tonight's Game.
About ninety percent of tonight's adventure material came from Weird Adventure's author's blog From The Sorcerer's Skull Weird Adventures resource page over here. 

 Trey Causey makes some wonderful setting and gaming material be sure to check out his work with the Hydra Cooperative. 

Other items that appeared in tonight's game include items from the Smyth's & Jordon's Novelties Of Adventure catalog. These include Miracles of the Gnome Workshop Die Drop Table,  Wasteland Emporium & Wonderama Die Drop Table ,Magic Ring Die Drop Table & Potion Pill Die Drop Table

'Another Fine Mess In The Haunted Wasteland' - A Gothic - Post Apocalyptic OD&D Game - Actual Play

This is an original cover from the Fiction House's series Ghost comics and thanks to cartoonist Terry Beatty the inspiration for last night's game. You can find more of these fantastic forties good girl covers clean up right over HERE

I was using Jack Shear's Tales of Grotesque and Dungeonsque HERE  as well as Trey's Weird Adventures HERE  as kit to design a weird pulp inspired Gothic one shot OD&D style game. Fish Wife games also lend a hand in this.
Jack Shears Adventures on Gothic Earth and Tales of The Grotesque and Dungeonsque III : The Final Chapter are perfectly suited for use as Gothic gaming material for early Eighteen Hundreds to Nineteen Thirties Gothic Pulp Campaign Adventures. Easily mixed in with Weird Adventures.
 So last night I got together with friends and had seven players. The game was set on a variant of my Ancient And Accursed Terra world. There are a multiplicity of these worlds floating out in the plane prime, many are post apocalyptic hell holes that are each tied in with one another as a string of demi planes of doom all in mirco pocket bubbles. Many touch the negative material plane in one form or another and the lands of the dead under the control of a variety of gods of death.
This also happens to include Orcus whose got an interest in the party. The adventurers have raided a number of his worlds and properties as well as upset his creations a number of times. 

Last night's group consisted of the following PC's party after an extended character creation workshop. 

1. Sir Arthur Crompton - Adventurer, fighter, big game hunter and monster killer. Fighter fourth level. From wealthy upper class background in the U.K. whose had some rather unsavory dealings with the Fey. 
2. Ms. Victory Falsroy - Half human and vampire adventuress/ cleric as well as the best selling author of A Young Lady's Primer On Other Worlds.  Cleric 4th level 
3. Strayon The Mystic - A warlock of some renown whose got a radio program from 3 A.M. to 5 A. M. on WW5 called Beyond The Shroud. Warlock fifth level 
4. The Fitz Roy Twin - Spiritualists of the Infamous, mercenary warriors of the spirit world and some of the most dangerous ghost hunters. 6th level spiritualists. 
5. The Azur Green warrior - Mysterious mercenary fighter from some Orient but which one is a bit of a mystery. Carries an Oni blade and a very bad attitude. 5th level fighter 
6. The Brimestone Boys -  Two Gangsters dedicated to one of the lower powers and out to make a name for themselves on this plane or the abyss. 5th level thieves and toughs. 
7. Sister Anne - Cleric, healer, and gun wielding psychopath with multiple personalities Discipline of Janus and wielder of a pair of blessed Dragoon guns. 4th level cleric and 2 level fighter.  Healer of the group.

The PC's met with their patron at his castle. A renowned and incredibly feared necromancer Sir Carl Rupert Sinclair.  The host of the incredibly popular radio show 'Speaking With The Dead' and retired acclaimed stage actor. Sir Rupert Sinclair is now investigating most a troubling matter and looking into the latest scandal to come his way (one of many by the way). His lovely daughter has disappeared after having joined a group of adventurers herself. Sir Carl does not think she is on Earth at all. He has reason to believe that she has gone looking for a relic sacred to the Sinclair family. 
Sinclair Castle sits on a series of  powerful ley lines that allow one to open doors into other worlds and even the realms of the dead. Sinclair thinks that his own daughter may have used such a door way to go looking for the so called Star of Sinclair. An artifact lost to the family going all the way back to the Revolution of Freedom. 

More information about the real life inspiration for Sinclair Castle right over HERE

It Opens Doors 

 The PC's were lead down a series of stairs into the bowels of the castle. Cut stone passages and weird rooms used for summoning, spells, and dire enchantments greeted them. 
The adventurers bargained for exclusive story rights, treasure, artifacts, and movie rights. The doors were opened and the adventurers stepped into a strange haunted world filled with ruins. Here's where 100 Things To See In The Devastated City came in handy. 

Available right over HERE

The PC were greeted by sights in an alternative haunted New York city from the depths of a Lovecraftian horror show. Some of the sites they saw were the following : 

100 Things To See In The Devastated City

Want a little decadent flavor to add to those still settled parts of the post apocalypse metro area? Need a few encounters for the wandering party of adventurers to run into? Just roll the percentile dice and consult the two page chart!

Note: Some of these random rolls contain notes about mutants. Modify or remove as needed for personal campaign. Many of these listings could also be used for modern slum areas as well.

Care for some samples?

01- A bored young thug bashing in the front of a soda vending machine with a crowbar.

15- A filthy looking man with a scarred face and mutated eye tugs a wagon of junk.

25- A handcuffed mutant is being forcefully led down the street by two men in tattered police uniforms.

30- A man in a dirty brown suit selling packs of cigarettes from the trunk of an old luxury car.

45- A small group of hedonists shooting up drugs while they sit on the steps of an old law office.

50- A trio of adolescent street artists spray paint grafitti on the side of an old building.

60- A young couple and their three kids are cleaning out an old storefront in hopes of starting a business.

75- Five women dressed in hospital scrubs tend to a couple of wounded citizens lying on the sidewalk.

90- Three old men are gathered around a fire built in an old barrel.

100- Two young punks threaten an old woman clutching a purse.

More coming up soon! 

Tales of Gothic Transylvania - A Gothic Horror Campaign - Actual Play Part Four - In The Steps of The Vampyr On The Dark Corner Blog

 Ring The Bell, Walk Into The Night, and come along the trail into the Carpathians!
Right over
HERE

Tales of Gothic Transylvania - A Gothic Horror Campaign - Actual Play Part III On The Dark Corner Blog!

The PC's deal with the fall out from the 'Man from Lavanti' and are forced deep into the underworld once again of the Transylvanian city state. Are they pawns of Dark Forces or Heroes or something in between!
Right over
HERE

Tales of Gothic Transylvania - A Gothic Horror Campaign - Actual Play Part II On The Dark Corner Blog

The PCs are in very deep waters with weird gods, strange urban encounters, animal headed guardian spirits, and a level drained merchant prince in 'Tales of Gothic Transylvania" right over HERE! 

Tales of Gothic Transylvania - A Gothic Horror Campaign - Actual Play Part I On The Dark Corner Blog

Where in two first level PC's tangle with some assassins, deal with a wounded patron, and get thrown into the deep end of the
Pulp Gothic World!
Right over
HERE! 

Tales of Gothic Transylvania - A Gothic Horror Campaign - Further Meditations On Tales Of The Grotesque And Dungeonesque Volume One On The Dark Corner Blog

                                                      

The shadows are growing longer and thoughts turn to the winter campaign! We take a bite out of  Tales of the Grotesque And Dungeonesque  along with a quick glimpse of  'The City'  in the Transylvania countryside! 
Right Over HERE! 

Random Encounters Table For Lurkers, Stalkers, Psychopaths, And Mid level Hoods For Your Old School Horror Games On The Dark Corner Blog

Pulp Monday continues!
A dangerous collection of murderers, psychos, stalker and worse awaits you over at the Dark Corner! 

HERE

Further Thoughts On 'Strange Trails' Free Download For 'Weird Adventures' By Trey Causey On The Dark Corner Blog

Grab Your Guns, Your Girl, And  Journey Into High Adventure on Strange Trails
Right Over
 HERE!