Dungeon Crawl Classics

Dungeon Crawl Classics is an "old school" style RPG with an interesting way of promoting characters from "villager" to "adventurer": The so-called "funnel".

The idea is that a player will take several level-0 villagers on a coming-of-age adventure, after which (assuming they survive) they will be level-1 adventurers and get to select all kinds of new abilities.

But right now, all characters in the party are villagers, armed with loaves of bread or sacks of grain or ... well you get the picture.

The system uses the familiar D20 for most tests, but introduces a bunch of perhaps unfamiliar dice such as the d16 or d24, which will be supplied, along with paper and pencils, and pre-generated characters.

The Adventure:

The brothers Molan and Felan were two Chaos Lord champions. 

Vicious and cunning beyond measure, and without a scrap of mercy in their war-hardened hearts, they led hordes of bestial humanoids to victory against the armies of good. With the spoils of their bloody campaigns, they raised a mighty keep and rained terror and violence down upon all in their demesne.

In the end, the brothers’ success was their undoing. Disparate forces of men, dwarves, and elves rallied together in a crusade against the wicked chaos lords. For thirty-nine days, the allies laid siege to the foul keep. And on the fortieth day, the captain of the elves dealt Felan a mortal blow.

Realizing that his own end was drawing near, Molan retreated into the ancient caves beneath the keep., never to be heard of again.

Then, as the armies of good laid waste to the keep, Molan gave up his mortal shell, commending his damned soul into the writhing limbs of the gods of Chaos.

Molan made only one request. When ages had passed, and the armies of good fell into disarray once more, he asked to return and lay waste to his ancient foes.

That time has come.

Mutant Crawl Classics

The Mutant Crawl Classics game system is derived from the popular "old school -ish" Dungeon Crawl Classics, and presents the players with an opportunity to game in a fanciful future post-apocalyptic world where the definition of "a person" has, of necessity, been broadened to include mutants and sentient plants.

Similar game settings such as Metamorphosis Alpha and Gamma World might already be familiar to the prospective player.

The system uses the standard D20 for most tests, but can use more exotic side-counts if required (e.g. 16- or 24-sided dice). Such dice will be provided, along with pre-generated characters, scratch paper and pencils and so forth.

The game we will be playing has the players wielding multiple "level 0" characters, and their objective will be to get at least ONE of these to the scenario's end to be promoted to Level-1 and to return to their village with a prized Old World Artifact.

The Game

Having left their village for their Rite of Passage, the PCs awaken in the midst of a pitched underground battle, only to discover that they have been abducted and enslaved by semi-sentient ant-men.

Trapped in this hellish anthill, they must find a way to escape, to acquire artifacts, and to foil

the schemes of the ant-men.

If they fail, they die—and the ant army will inevitably spread further, enslaving their home village and

perhaps even the world of Terra A.D. itself.

ALIEN RPG - Destroyer of Worlds

The game uses the ALIEN RPG system which provides an exciting player experience exactly in line with expectations from the movies, in this case, especially ALIENS. Players will get the most from the game by "leaning in" to the milieu and scenery chewing a-la Hudson (at the right moments) is of course to be applauded. 

As characters progress through the story they will accumulate stress, which can be beneficial by increasing chances of success when skill rolls are called for, but can trigger panic too. Stress can be relieved by finding a safe place and resting for ten minutes or so. Are there any safe places? Better hope so. 

Combat is deadly, and PCs should strive to only involve themselves in it in a manner that emphasizes their advantages, namely the pulse rifle, the grenade launcher, the incinerator unit and (of course) the smart gun. Lock and load, marine! 

The PCs will be organized (most likely) with a command structure, and best use of game time will be for all players to remember they are pretending to be military personnel with a pounded-in respect for that hierarchy. Mutinous dissent will almost certainly bring disaster down on everyone.

Background:

Located within the Outer Veil, Kruger 60 and 61 Cygni are two colonial systems located very close to the UPP border in an area of UA space called the Advance. The Advance splinters off the American Corridor and juts Spinward into UPP territory. The Kruger 60 system has been a key oil supply and military staging post for the United Americas Allied Command (UAAC) and the Colonial Marines for years, and has been strategically important during the so-called Oil Wars. The severe petroleum shortage throughout the colonies has led the United Americas, the Three World Empire, and the Union of Progressive Peoples into a race to secure new sources of crude oil. These Oil Wars have created severe border tensions. Stretched too thin, the UAAC and the Colonial Marines maintain an uneasy peace throughout the colonies. Tired of severely rationed supplies and the mega-corporations’ mistreatment of the working class, insurgency groups have cropped up in defiance of their local governments—and the resource poor UPP is poised to take advantage of this development. Recently, the UPP expanded their borders to engulf 61 Cygni, annexing the colony on LV-038 in the process. Allied Command sent a task force to challenge the claim. The nearest system, Kruger 60—and the moon the PCs are on—is feared to be next. (Courtesy Free League, no infringement of copyright intended).

Ariarcus colony is based on a moon in the Kruger-60 system. It is extremely cold and dark, and any colonist that could afford to get offworld has gone, either because the original opportunities for free enterprise have evaporated or because of fears of war, leaving large parts of the town derelict.

Current population is about 2200 colonists, some 400 marines (split between the ground and in orbit) and around 40 military scientists.

Pipes of various diameters, from a few inches to several feet, run overhead in most of the streets to convey the oil form the refinery to the elevator cable, which also serves as a pumping conduit to orbit as well as providing the space elevator with its anchor.

A military lockdown has recently been ordered, grounding all spacecraft and immobilizing the space elevator.

The Games

ACT 1 - The marines are tasked with finding and capturing a small group of AWOLS with stolen intelligence. They will have to deal with disgruntled colonists, insurgents and possible UPP agents. All materials required will be supplied, including paper, pencils and a pool of the dice needed to play. Pre-generated characters will be supplied.

ACT 2 - The marines have their quarry (hopefully) and must now return them to Fort Nebraska through an increasingly hostile environment. They have their weapons, equipment and a nice cozy APC, but will need their wits to survive this one. All materials required will be supplied, including paper, pencils and a pool of the dice needed to play. Pre-generated characters will be supplied.

It will not be necessary to have played in ACT 1 to take part in ACT 2 - though any who wish to do so may of course join the "fun".