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 This is a fantastic and deeply unsettling idea. Wretched Darkness is an OSR horror game focused on anti-heroes, grim outcomes, and the psychological effects of the supernatural.For Santa Claus to exist in the Wretchedverse, he must be a terrifying, ambiguous, and immensely powerful entity. He won't be a jolly figure, but rather a primordial, ancient being whose power is tied to the Needleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11243274667834930867noreply@blogger.com0

Here is a non-player character (NPC) stat block for Firehair from the public domain comics, adapted for the Amazing Adventures RPG.Firehair was really Lynn Cabot, called Princess Smith by her father. She was the daughter of a wealthy Boston businessman who was killed by outlaws posing as Native Americans. She was found by Little Ax, son of Chief Tehama of the Sioux tribe and was Needleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11243274667834930867noreply@blogger.com0

 Shackle-Bound Spirit (Ghost of Greed)Marley appears to Scrooge  illustration by Fred Barnard (1878)Shackle-Bound Spirits are the miserable remnants of those who lived lives of avarice and self-interest, consumed by their desire for wealth and possessions. They are cursed to wander the material plane, forever bound by the chains forged from their own greed, seeking Needleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11243274667834930867noreply@blogger.com0

  We moved the party of adventurers onto the castle's siege weapons and moved into position to level the weapons at the German two headed infernal dragon. The cult was following the dragon and we poured pit and hot tar onto the cult killing six of the idiots. This action picks right up from the last session from November 7th. We then saw the Orcs from behind the cult and the cry Needleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11243274667834930867noreply@blogger.com0

The following is an original Castles & Crusades (C&C) adventure module, designed to integrate with the multi-dimensional city concept of Nexus: The Infinite City, using C&C rules for all stats and mechanics. And this is a follow up post to yesterday's blog entry here. Adventure: The Algorithmic SpireSetting: A newly "jumped" district in Nexus where a Needleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11243274667834930867noreply@blogger.com0

Aldo did a fantastic job of walking us through character building for Stalwart '85. I really appreciate the time he took to make and post this. It's really helpful, if you've had trouble wrapping your head around how character creation works.

Thanks, Aldo! 

Technology vs. magic, sometimes even to the point of a war, in a feature of a number of fantasy works, though I'm not aware of a published D&D setting that features it. 

Some science fiction settings have cultural/religious limits on technology, either as one facet of the setting or as a means for the author to keep technology in check to tell the sort of story they want to tell. Dune is the primary example, but there are series like the Sun Eater series by Christopher Ruocchio that follow its lead, and other settings that make it a feature. A more recent variant is a group or culture that rejects the rapid changes associated with things like cybertechnology and brain uploading. This shows up in Stross' Accelerando.

I think it would be interesting to sort of combine these concepts. Have the action take place within a fantasy world (perhaps a fairly standard one, or maybe a Spelljammer-ish system), but the demons, devils, and other Outsiders trying to get in and corrupt the world (at least from the perspective of the world's clerics and leaders who consuder them anathema) are actually posthuman intelligences that utilize technology, not magic. Presumably, "magic" (whatever it is) was what allowed these simple, unenhanced humanoids to hold on in a universe of much more powerful sophonts. The Outer Planes (as they view) them are really just planets, habitats or networks.

Of course, whether the Outsiders are really baddies would depend on the specifics of the setting--or maybe even be open to interpretation?

 Here we go with this session pick up with our scout Terrance getting back to our 'heroes' with news that there's four alien shuttle craft back where the party had parked. This session picks right up from November 11th's here on the blog. Meanwhile the PC's were getting physicals & debriefed on the world that they've fallen into. There's a ton of bio mutation, organ harvesting, and Needleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11243274667834930867noreply@blogger.com0

 A campaign combining Nexus: The Infinite City and Amazing Adventures provides a framework for multi-genre, multi-era, "anything goes" action, where pulp adventurers from the 1920s/30s suddenly find themselves in a sprawling, transdimensional metropolis.Campaign Premise: The Infinite CrossroadsThe campaign centers on the city of Nexus, a vast, unique metropolis that Needleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11243274667834930867noreply@blogger.com0

Been kicking this one around a while. Black Pudding Comics... drawing from the treasure trove of characters and ideas in the zine as well as my other related works (I mean, there are a BUNCH of characters in the Meatshields of the Bleeding Ox section). Why not tell some stupid little stories about those guys?

I don't want to limit the comic to just material from the zine. Instead, the idea is to do comics that riff on the entire meta-setting of Pan-Gea, the whole "mythos" as I like to call it. There's the ancient world of Pan-Gea itself, then the sword and sorcery world of Yria (which is where the zine lives, mostly), and finally the sci-fantasy space setting of ZSF - the Zoa Space Frontier.

So my idea is to do comics of any of these flavors because they all share the same backbone: the Pan-Gea mythos. The gods and demons such as the Sun and Moon and Hunter Raven and the Worm Witch, and so on. These are ideas that have lived in my brain and in my creations for decades. A sandbox to play in. Might as well play, right?

Right now it looks like I have quite a bit of finished material that would fit nicely into the book, mixed with new stuff I'm working on.

Disclaimer: I'm high on the idea right now and it's Saturday night. This could all crash and burn. I'm just daydreaming here. We'll see. 

I mean, look at all these goofy bastards.
 

 Fred Carson was a radio engineer who enjoyed traveling. While on a trip to Tibet, he met a yogi who put him through a series of rigorous tests. Fred passed, proving that he had the physical and moral strength to do good. As a reward, the yogi gave him a magic ring. Fred used it to fight for humanity and justice as Wonder Man.Wonder Man is a high-tier "MegaHuman" NPC for Survive This!! Needleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11243274667834930867noreply@blogger.com0

 Here is an adventure for the Zaibatsu RPG, using the system's core mechanics and stats, involving a bodyguard and their corporate charge. And this connects back to our OSR Commentary - The Long Shadow of The Zaibatsu rpg by Paul Elliot From Zozer GamesAdventure: The Chiba ConnectionSynopsis: The PCs are contracted by the powerful Daiyon Zaibatsu to escort AkariNeedleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11243274667834930867noreply@blogger.com0

 Amazing Man is a powerful NPC for Survive This!! Vigilante City RPG, a "MegaHuman" who combines peak human conditioning from mystical training with potent, unique powers, earning him the nickname the "Green Mist".Amazing Man (NPC)In 1914, an orphaned child named John Aman was chosen by the Tibetan Council of Seven to be trained to both mental and physical perfection. Aman was alsoNeedleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11243274667834930867noreply@blogger.com0

 A campaign spanning the   Belle Ãpoque era (late 19th Century) through to the  Wretched Darkness  modern era can use the enigmatic "Red Room" entity as the persistent, timeless antagonist. The  Red Room, within the context of The Red Room RPG line, is a recurring symbol of insidious horror, corruption, and sanity loss that Needleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11243274667834930867noreply@blogger.com0

 Atoman is a formidable, high-powered NPC for Survive This!! Vigilante City RPG, classified as a "MegaHuman" with substantial energy-based powers, reflecting his origin as a being of raw atomic energy.While working as a nuclear scientist at the "Atomic Institute," Barry Dale absorbs the "power of the atom" through unconscious exposure to nuclear materials and gains superpowers as a Needleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11243274667834930867noreply@blogger.com0

 An NPC version of the Veiled Avenger from " Spotlight Comics #1-3 cannot be created directly because the character's publication history is more complex than just those specific issues, and the character is a public domain creation. The specific character is Ginny Spears, who first appeared in Spotlight Comics from a specific publisher, and information on her Needleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11243274667834930867noreply@blogger.com0

The Stalwart Phile #5 is now available, and it expands Doc's world into a new location, Port City, with a new central hero, the Skarab. While Echo City is a street-level city that is largely controlled by the criminal empire, Port City is a more 'normal' city, with a more garish and motley collection of villains. I was tempted to give Messenger a sidekick and expand Gap City, but decided instead to add a whole set of new comics to the mix. 

 Our 5e Land of Azurth game continued last Sunday with the party trying to get to the Bright Rabbit Goddess of the Moon to ask her for a particular jewel that might be the key to saving Azurth's princesses from the petrification the evil Wizard had put on them. 

After several weird encounters in the fae lunar gardens, the party encountered one of the Rabbit Folk working in a fissure in the Moon's surface on the vast gearworks beneath.  He told them the gears controlled the movement of the gigantic, black tarpaulin that was drawn across the Moon's surface, causing its phases as observed from Earth, so that the lunar folk could have some privacy.

 He tells them that reaching the primary garden and the Goddess requires not thinking about going there. Sort of unfocus your eyes, he says, and the path will become clear. Only two of the party are able to accomplish this, but they can lead the other members on. 

They are greeted by a major domo in a ruff collar and fancy dress who listens to their concerns and puts their names on a list to see the Goddess. Then he ushers them off to one of the few empty tables in the expansive, side garden to wait.

Trying to figure out a way to get in sooner, they strike up a conversation with a young woman who claims to be from Mercury. She offers them a letter of introduction from the Empire of Mercury, which they accept but are too wary to use. 

They decide to ask the major domo if there might be some sort of inducement they could provide to get in sooner. He happily tells them that the Moon is mad for the more advanced gadgetry of Earth. They give him a stopped pocket watch (right twice a day!) that used to belong to the young Roderick Drue, who eventually became the Wizard. Or some version of him did, anyway.

They are whisked in to see the Goddess who is sympathetic to their plight. Unfortunately, she just granted the sapphire to a Faceless Collector from the Outer Worlds. Maybe they can convince him to give it to them?

The Collector, a cool, emotionless humanoid with knowledge of time, says he will give it them if they can defeat him and his servitor in combat...

 So this blog entry picks right up from Tuesday, November 18, 2025  This campaign adventure uses the SIEGE Engine rules found in both Castles & Crusades and Night Shift: Veterans of the Supernatural Wars, making them highly compatible.The key difference is that C&C focuses on fantasy character classes, while Night Shift offers modern archetypes. TheNeedleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11243274667834930867noreply@blogger.com0

 Creating a Survive This!! Vigilante City campaign set in a Public Domain Super Heroes (PDSH) version of New York City is an excellent way to capture the Golden Age of comics feel using a flexible, OSR-inspired system.The "Public Domain" aspect means you have free rein to use classic characters, locations, and concepts without copyright restrictions.Campaign Concept: The Post-War Needleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11243274667834930867noreply@blogger.com0