First of all, do we need a new OSR? No, of course not. There's no shortage of people still creating, playing, or just discussing D&D-style games, with oceans of interesting material available. Also, I'm not going to quibble over the definition of the OSR, or whether it's "alive" or "dead". A lot of photons have … Continue reading The New OSR: The case for the Cepheus Engine
The latest issue of the Cepheus Journal, the free Cepheus Engine fanzine, recently came out. It's issue #11, centered around the theme of Aliens. Though it's a Cepheus Engine-specific publication, a lot of the articles are system-agnostic and might work for any Sci-Fi game. Definitely worth a download. This isn't a complete review of every … Continue reading Cepheus Journal #11: The Alien Issue
Since I'm putting together more Omega 99 stuff, I thought I'd release my latest version of my fillable Omega 99 character sheet. This one is designed to work with Cepheus Deluxe rules. It'll auto generate Stamina and Lifeblood boxes and has a box for Hero Points. The third page is a foldable table tent that … Continue reading Omega 99: Character sheet for Cepheus Deluxe
I've been flipping through the Space: 1999 Moonbase Alpha Technical Operations Manual I bought directly from the Gerry Anderson online store. It's been inspiring me to start creating some more material for Omega 99, Michael Brown's adaptation of the Space: 1999 setting to the Cepheus Engine. You can also see all the other Omega 99 … Continue reading Omega 99: New Weapons for Moonbase Omega
I'm finishing up my submission to the Cepheus Journal, the free Cepheus Engine fanzine. The upcoming issue is centered around the theme of aliens. I decided to make some fantasy aliens inspired by the bad guys in the 1983 movie Krull (Wikipedia / YouTube Trailer) . I've previously posted about the research I did for this, and now … Continue reading The Slayers: Preview of my Cepheus Journal article
Barbaric! There's an interesting low fantasy RPG, based on the Cepheus Engine system, called Barbaric! from Stellagama Publishing. It's a much lighter, quicker version of the whole 2d6/Cepheus/Traveller style of game. There isn't any career lifepath system and the stats have been completely replaced with a common set of seven skills. It's somewhat closer to … Continue reading Warlords of Atlantis: Character sheets for the Barbaric! setting
I recently had a scenario for Zaibatsu, Bring me the Head of Izumi Takahiro, published in issue #10 of the Cepheus Journal. I thought I'd post some design notes and inspirations. You can download the issue for free. The name of the scenario comes from the curious Sam Peckinpah movie Bring Me the Head of … Continue reading Design Notes for a Zaibatsu scenario: Frozen Heads & Fanboys
I just wanted to go over some highlights of the latest issue of the Cepheus Journal, the free fanzine for Cepheus Engine games. They've been putting out some great stuff recently, and it's worth promoting. This isn't a complete list, just the stuff that stood out to me. I'm also happy to say one of … Continue reading Cepheus Journal #10: Some Highlights
This isn’t a pop-culture blog. I don’t do movie reviews, and I’m not going to start now. However, I just got back from a screening of Everything Everywhere All at Once, the new movie by Dan Kwan & Daniel Scheinert, and I wanted to discuss it a bit, at least in RPG terms. I don’t … Continue reading Everything Everywhere All at Once: Initial thoughts on making it a game
I've just run my first one-shot of Wings over the World, the one-page campaign setting for Cepheus Engine games by Michael Brown. It's an interesting alternate history setting, based entirely on the 1936 H.G. Wells-penned movie Things to Come. The world is in ruins after the Second World War dragged on for over twenty years. … Continue reading Wings over the World: Notes & Aircraft sheet
Polyhedral Nonsense 