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Fire & Fangs
by Daniel [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 09/01/2024 10:27:59

I love this. I love that it works in OSE, so players will believe me that it’s not too much new stuff to learn but it’s in a well-rounded enough system. I hope the zine mentioned as coming soon, does come soon! Great stuff.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Fire & Fangs
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Kosmosaurs RPG
by James [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 08/22/2023 14:27:12

I enjoyed reading this one, and I absolutely had a blast playing! Definitely has a Saturday morning cartoon vibe that everyone loved. (Even the kids who never technically experienced Saturday morning cartoons)

I'd be happy to read more lore about the world, allies, and enemies of the Kosmosaurs.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Kosmosaurs RPG
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Kosmosaurs RPG
by Gene P. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 12/02/2022 23:48:16

I recently played Kosmosaurs with my niece and nephew. For context they are aged 7 & 5 years old. The system is a really odd mix. In its favor its super simple and the mechanics reflect that. it's in fact too simple. Many basic mechanical supports and rules that should be in this system simply don't exist. To put it bluntly it's a mechanical train wreck. If it's so bad, you ask, why would I give it three stars? I gave it three stars because the implied setting and the GM tools for creating story on the fly were actually amazing. I would run this again, for the right group of kids, and continue to just quietly fix things without the kids realizing what I was up to. The story and setting support was amazing and is worthy of praise.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
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Solar Blades & Cosmic Spells
by Nathaniel M. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 08/18/2022 17:50:05

This book is excellent. It addressed all my bugbears with Sharp Swords, (which is also a good game). It covers everything you could need from combat and spells to rules for vechiles, with excellent examples and guides to making your own spells equipment and monsters. I will definately be using it a lot. Some lovely art and presentation too, and the tables are amazing. You coul use it to run a very wide range of games from fanatsy to sci fi.

One of the best and most easy to remember rulesets I've seen. Highly recommended.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Solar Blades & Cosmic Spells
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Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells
by Nathaniel M. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 08/11/2022 16:59:48

I really like some of the things about this game, the simplicy, how quick it plays, how easy it is to remember the rules, and improvise rulings. I also really like the magic system. And the artwork. It has great potential.

However in my honest opinion, it has some serious flaws, at least in the current edition. Which unfortunately means I can't rate it more highly. I have spent much of my time since purchasing it, re-reading the book, and seaching for FAQ's or opinions of other players, to try and understand some of the basics that aren't very well explained.

Initiative: The rules as written are simply unclear. It says that initiative is determined by the order of Hit Die. It doesn't says what this means - whether this means the number of HD, or the type of Hit Die. I have seen this variously interpreted - as the type of HD (e.g Fighters with 1d10 always go first), and the number of Hit Die. E.g An oponent with 2 HD will always go before a 1st level player who has 1HD. I can't see anywheere it defines hit dice, except variously as the type of dice, and the number of hit dice.

It also doesn't mention anywhere what happens after the first round ends. Does the iniative order continue as before? Fair enough if it's set based on number or type of dice. But ties are resovled through rolling. In fact it dosn't mention what a Round is. We can assume it has a similar meaning to in D and D, but it's not stated.

Unarmed combat: There are no rules for unarmed combat. The lowest damaging (small) weapons such as daggers do 1d4. How much do fists do, presumably it has to be less. 1d3, 1d2? Fists are a "small" weapon but it seems a stretch to think they do as much damage as a dagger, or a short swords.

Maneuvers: It doesn't mention maneuvers anywhere in the rules, except that Warriors have Improved Maneuvers - and can make a combat maneuver "disarming, pushing, tripping" as well as an attack. Nowhere else including in the combat chapter. does it mentioned "maneuvers, or their effects. Confusing things further it also says in the combat chapter that in a Player's Turn, they can perform "any feasible action". No where does it define what an Action is. Or what a Turn is. Or how a Turn ends.

Luck Die: It says that the referee can call for a Luck Roll. Nowhere does it explain why a referee might call for a luck roll - as opposed to say an agility or physique check. Presumably this is to see if they can do something that effects the narrative, outside of their abilities, but I'm unclear on this. If Luck is a core mechanic, it needs to be explained why it is exists and what it is for, even as a general priciple.

Status Effects: There is are no rules for falling, yet there are rules for suffocation.

There are no rules for opponents fighting other opponents. Maybe not a biggy, it can be GM'd. But sometimes two oponents may fight -for example an opponent sorceror summons a monster and it breaks free and attacks him. I appreciate the desire not to have any monster stats, but it would be nice to have a rule of thumb.

Things like the degree of success are only mentioned in one line. This seems to me to be core to the system, but I missed it on the first couple of readings, and it seems other readers have to.

Lastly, there is no FAQ, despite this being out for quite a few years now.

It feels like this game has great ideas, but either for the sake of brevity, or because it is made in reponse to other systems, which it assumes the reader already knows, it doesn't define key terms - like Turns, Maneuvers and Hit Dice.

I think it has potential enough, that I would consider purchasing a second edition, but these things could easily be addressed sooner. I have actually purchased Solar Blades, to see if it explains the rules better. Which isn't ideal, but you can't say I haven't given it a chance! It also poins to the fact of how much I want to like and use this system in my games despite the points I raised. I would like to see some of these issues addressed in a second edition, along with:

  • FAQ as mentioned previously.

  • An index.

  • Glossay of key terms.

  • One example of at least one combat round.

  • Some expanded examples of monsters, and rules of thumb to use when creating their abilities on the fly.

  • Some more information on levelling up and progression. The suplliment recommends players dictate this by expressing a desire to earn a particular ability, which they receive through in-world questing. I like the looseness of this, but it would be be useful to have a guide on how to determine what is level appropriate.

  • It would also be great to have a small section on how to adapt the rules for different settings, say you want to play more traditional high fantasy with healing and magic weapons which give attack bonuses. I have no idea if this would "break" the game if I house rule this.

  • Related to this, it would be nice to have rules on improved or superior version of weapons - I believe this is in Solar Blades. But as written there is no indication a character can ever improve their equipment beyond the light, medium or heavy damage dice, no matter if they are wielding the Sword of Kings, or a rusty blade.

  • A guide on creating new Archeypes. I appreciate vocations add possibilities, but it would be fantastic to give some pointers at creating your own, if only the special abilities should not exceed "X".


Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells
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Dark Streets & Darker Secrets
by Jordan B. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 07/10/2022 02:18:48

My group played a 2-session One-Shot of this game. We played an adventure called Vampire Cruise (which is excellent and you should check it out). The system was fun! It's fairly straightforward and easy to use. I think it would work well for just about any Urban Fantasy game you care to play. I heartily recommend Dark Streets & Darker Secrets to you.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Dark Streets & Darker Secrets
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Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells - Addendum
by Michael I. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 05/10/2022 15:01:16

Read-only review: Although the original rules SS&SS are amongst my favorite rules light OSR games, this addendum adds more crunch but not much fun. I'll be sticking with the original rules without this addendum



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells - Addendum
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Solar Blades & Cosmic Spells
by Brian R. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 03/16/2022 15:34:14

I can't believe I haven't written a review for this yet. I first discovered Old Skull by seeing Dark Streets & Darker Secrets on the DTRPG front page. I got it, loved it, and immediately went in search of more content for it. What I found was Solar Blades & Cosmic Spells.

Hoo-boy. How to even start. I've described this game as post-apocalyptic cosmic horror star & sorcery. I've told people it's like Star Wars, Warhammer 40K, Masters of the Universe, and Heavy Metal magazine all got blended up in one universe. It's a freakin ride, let me tell you. But, here's the thing... it only barely describes all the weird, wild, wonderful crap it mentions. A few things get a paragraph or two. The different sectors of space get a few pages of tables each, and I'll mention the tables again in a bit. And that's about it. All the background is sprinkled around in tiny crumbs all over the book. Nothing is given an extensive 'this is how it is' treatment. The Overlord (the GM) has so much room to add, delete, and modify, because it is all so sandboxy. No, that isn't a word. Reading the book, you get into the feel of the universe, without being bombarded by pages of names, locations, battles, rivalries, etc, etc. The tech level reminds me of 'demon-haunted Firefly', and the adventure creation section reads like 'H.P. Lovecraft's Stargate SG-1'.

The game system is so fun, as well. Four attributes, roll 1d20 and score equal or less than the attribute to succeed. The Overlord must roll over the PC's stat on 1d20 to affect the character. There are Tough, Nimble, Smart, and Gifted characters, each with special abilities that define that archetype. Vitality is this game's Hit Points, and they start kind of high, but only increase slowly. The powers a Gifted character can gain are varied, and dangerous. Mess up really, really bad on a Sorcery roll, and an evil clone of you might appear somewhere in the universe, intent on taking your place. Weapons and armor are abstracted into Light, Medium, and Heavy. Vehicles get a chapter, and that hoverbike illustration made me create a light transport just to have a hoverbike racing team drinking in the local bar. Which led to an entire session in an unplanned side adventure. Gear has a Durability, which is way more fun than simply marking off ammo or fuel cells. You roll 1d6, hoping to score equal or less than the Durability of the item. If you don't, the Durability drops by 1. If it reaches zero, the item is empty, used up, or even destroyed.

Yes, the book is 450 pages. There's about 100 pages of hard rules, including powers and vehicles. So. Many. Tables. Many entries have an additional 1d6 roll to give even more variety to that entry. There are tables for contents, features, encounters, and more for each of the 20 sectors. A sweet adventure framework creation section where you can randomly roll the goal, adversaries, complications, and locations of an adventure. This is, honestly, my favorite section. Near the end is a starting adventure, a prison break scenario that could end up with the party having their own starship. And enemies. More than a few enemies.

It's amazing. This game is amazing. The system is easy to use, and the setting is bonkers. Or not. Don't use the crazy stuff. No Undead Queen, no Star Gods, no Galactic Overlords. Just humans and spaceships. Maybe all the characters are from the same planet, and the game is straight fantasy. Until a spaceship crashes there. You can do so much with this game. I'm an unabashed fanboy, and proud of it. Get it. If you like alien wizards and cyborg gunslingers, this is your Happy Place.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Solar Blades & Cosmic Spells
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Dark Streets & Darker Secrets
by Timothy B. [Featured Reviewer] Date Added: 11/10/2021 14:43:04

Originally posted here: https://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2021/11/review-dark-streets-darker-secrets.html

Dark Streets & Darker Secrets has been on my "To Be Reviewed" pile for a very long time. I grabbed the PDF when it came out, but set it aside for the longest time because I was working on a bunch of other things and didn't get the chance. I picked it back up and really enjoyed it. So much so I also picked it up in hardcover Print on Demand.

So let's get to it.

Dark Streets & Darker Secrets

by Diogo Nogueira. 222 pages, hardcover. Color cover with black and white interior art. For this review, I am considering both the PDF and the Print on Demand hardcovers from DriveThruRPG.

Dark Streets & Darker Secrets (DS&DS) is a modern occult horror game from ENnie Award winner Diogo Nogueira. The book is digest size so it fit well with many "old school" style books of the last 10 years. It not only fits on the shelf physically but thematically as well. The game is based on Nogueira's earlier works Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells and Solar Blades & Cosmic Spells, so out of the gate there are more resources for this game if you desire.

The game itself is a gritty, modern occult/supernatural horror game. The normal humans are just slightly above average for the most part and the monsters are way more powerful. Immediately I thought of it as a bit of Chill mixed in with Kult. The feel is very much "humanity alone against the darkness."

The book is laid out in eight chapters with some appendices.

Chapter 1: Introduction

This chapter covers the basics of what is in the book.

Chapter 2: Character Creation

If you have played any old-school-like game in the last 45+ years you have an idea what this chapter is about. The differences here fit the tone of the game. Character attributes are rolled using a 2d6+3 (not a 3d6 or even 4d6 drop the lowest), this creates a narrower band of character attributes, 5-15 but still on the same human range of 3-18. There is a chance to increase these later on. The attribute themselves are a simplified version of the Basic 6; Physique (combining Strength and Constitution), Agility (Dexterity), Intellect (Intelligence), and Willpower (Wisdom and Charisma). Once those are done you create a character concept which is a basic couple word description and not a backstory.

After this, it is time to choose the Archetype or essentially the class of the character. They are The Tough, The Nimble, The Smart, and The Gifted. These align with the attributes above. The Gifted is special in that you can be a spell-caster or even a supernatural creature like a vampire, werewolf, or even an alien. Each archetype also gets a "recovery roll" which decides how quick they can bounce back from injury.

Since this is a gritty sort of universe all characters have a complication. These can come into play in the game to keep things "difficult and exciting" for the characters. It includes a d66 table (roll 2d6 and use the rolls like d%. Traveller people know this one well).

Then you pick out some gear. If it is mundane gear you have it. You also get some weapons and "weird" gear. These are detailed in the next chapter.

Finally, we have derived scores. Vitality (Physique + Level) are your "hit points." Sanity, or mental stability, is equal to your Intellect. Now I have mentioned before I do not like how many games handle insanity or madness. Sadly this game is not an exception. I spent a few years working in a mental health facility back when I was in grad school. There is no relationship between intelligence and mental health. In fact, I had one guy who was schizophrenic and could speak 3 or 4 languages including German and Swahili. He learned I also spoke German and would use that when he wanted to talk about the other clients "in secret" to me. So yeah. I am not really a fan of this one. I'd rather roll a 2d6 and then add a bonus from Willpower (and maybe Intellect) to get my Sanity score. There is also Luck points which are like fate points or drama points (everyone starts with 3) and Money.

Chapter 3: Gear

Covers mundane gear, expendable gear (like ammunition and things that wear out) and even some weird gear. Weird items are the best part. Every character has one weird item they start off with. This is easily explainable either they found it and thus introduced to the weirder world OR they have always had it and the world is waiting for them. There is a d100 table that covers a bunch of different sorts of items. Note, we just get the names of the items, what they do will be discovered in-game.

Additionally, drugs, services, illegal goods, and money points (abstraction of money carried) are also dealt with.

Chapter 4: Rules of the City

Here are our basic rules for the game. Everything is an attribute check (roll under your attribute modified by level and difficulty). There are some neat quirks. There is an advantage/disadvantage system here called Positive and Negative rolls. Rolling on your attribute is considered a critical success. You roll lower than your attribute to succeed, BUT higher than the difficulty. So if something has a difficulty of 8 and my attribute is 12 I have to roll a 12 or lower BUT also higher than an 8. So only rolls of 9, 10, 11, and 12 will get me a success.

Players can add a Luck roll to their challenges. This is not a matter of just adding points. You have to roll a d6. If it is equal to or lower than their luck score then you get to make a situation more favorable.

This chapter also covers sanity and madness. You lose Sanity if you encounter something strange and fail a Willpower test. Difficulty set by the situation. Points lost also can vary. When the character's Sanit score reaches 0 then they get a Madness. Thankfully there is no list of "madnesses" here. Most game designers get these horribly wrong anyways. In game you get a minor "quirk" on your first loss. If you suffer 4 losses then the character has succumbed to madness and can't be played.

Level advancement is a form of Milestone advancement that looks like it should work rather well. Again individual GMs can (and should) alter this to fit their needs.

Chapter 5: Combat

Like many RPGs combat gets a special chapter even if it is just a particular form of the rules stated above. But if one is going to fight the armies of darkness then one is expected to actually fight. Reading through this you get the idea that yes the characters can be tough. You also get the idea that the things they are fighting are a lot tougher. While there are a few ways the players can save their character's bacon, there are still a lot of grisly ways to die in this game.

Chapter 6: Sorcery and Psychic Powers

Ah, now this is the meat of the game in my mind. A Gifted character can be a sorcerer, a witch, a psychic or some other type of creature. Their powers and how to use them are detailed here. Regardless of the origin or the nature of the powers, game-wise they are treated in similar manners, the difference largely being different Backlash tables. How they are played can vary wildly. I mentioned that this is grittier game than one would see in say a Buffy-like game. The previously mentioned Backlash is one and Corruption is another. These include simple things like a "witch's mark" to changes to one's body and mind or just getting pulled right into the Abyss. Pro-tip, don't botch your rolls.

A very nice (and long) list of powers is given with their effects. While the list is long (60 entries) it is not exhaustive.

Additionally, Arcane artifacts are covered. How they are made, what they do, powers, cost (to make AND to use), and some samples.

Chapter 7: Running the Game

This covers the world of DS&DS. There is a bias (is that the right word? Preference is better) to an urbane game. Thus the title really. Outside of this there is no set theme or even setting. This would be a sandbox game if it were a FRPG. What we do get here is a ton of tables full of ideas for a a game, campaign, or an entire world.

Chapter 8: Monsters

Our Monster chapter differs from other games in that there is not a bestiary here per se, but example creatures and the means to make others of a similar nature. So for example there is a Cultis section that covers some sample cultists from 1-3 HD to demon-possessed leaders of 4-8 HD. This includes a table of "What are They Doing?" and "What do They Want?" A very effective means of repurposing content. The more powerful the creature the more detail they need obviously, but there is not a lot of detail in most cases. This works well here since the players (mostly the GM) provide all the details. There are powers listed for random creatures as well.

Appendix O: Optional Rules

Here are a group of optional rules you can add to your game. Things like Drunken Luck, Daring Points, Single Hero games and Multi-Archetype (Multi-Class) Characters.

Appendix I: Inspirational Materials

Covers the various books, movies, TV Shows, and other RPGs for inspiration.

Appendix S: Simple Scenario Structure

This discusses how to build a quick scenario and an example.

We end with a Character Sheet (and a Form Fillable one is provided with the PDF) and the OGL statement. I do feel the need to point out that Nogueira has released this game as 100% Open Gaming Content.

Dark Streets & Darker Secrets certainly lives up to the hype and has a lot going for it. If you have a world already in your mind and just need a system to flesh it out then this is a great choice for you. In this respect, it is very similar to old-school D&D. No default world type, just the tools to play in the world of your imagination with some assumptions built-in.

If you are looking for huge meta-plotting like the World of Darkness or even the baked-in mythology of Buffy the Vampire Slayer you find that here, which is refreshing. The players all have maximum flexibility to do what they want and that is the key strength of this game.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Dark Streets & Darker Secrets
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Solar Blades & Cosmic Spells
by Alex J. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 08/16/2021 18:54:40
A new favourite

Purely and simply this is one of the easiest to use, best laid out books i've played...and I have a lot. Im tempted to buy the hardcover just because I am a fan!



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Solar Blades & Cosmic Spells
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Solar Blades & Cosmic Spells (Variant Cover)
by Lucas A. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 06/18/2021 23:03:40

Excellent space adventure game - i get a gonzo / space opera feel from the art but more 'serious' games can be run with the ruleset provided. IMO the setting and adventrue generation tools included are the highlight of the work. Game mechanisms are easy to pick up and rules are given for just about any kind of space game you would like to play/run.

Physical print of the hardcover was suprisingly good. Unfortunately POD quality is hit-or-miss even from the same printer. My copy survived shipping in good shape. Image and text quality are excellent, binding is glued as you would expect but seems solid enough. Cover is good - i would recommend paying the extra to 'upgrade' from the standard cover art to the variant cover if you're buying the hardback version.

I've become a fan of Diogo's work. His games feature rule mechaninsms that are not complicated paired with an open framework that provide setting and adventure generation tools for game masters.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Solar Blades & Cosmic Spells (Variant Cover)
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Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells
by Mike I. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 04/16/2021 23:44:40

It's very nearly everything I want in an OSR game. If I combine this with the magic system from Maze Rats or something like Whitehack, it might be my favorite game ever! I am also keen on reading the expansion book for this game. Might change my rating for the game as a whole even. In any case, it is well written and well conceived. Give it a read!



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells
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Running Out of Time
by Anthony D. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 02/21/2021 14:09:01

Fuller review can be found at StickyBunton on 2/24/2021.

I acquired Running Out Of Time via the Kickstarter, as well as the other two zines from the same line.

Mechanically speaking, the game is a simple OSR mechanic, rolling low on a d20 to determine success. Unlike other OSR-style games, combat is sincerely fast and deadly, with attacks that always hit and damage that can take you out in one hit, buit character creation is almost equally fast to balance things out. That said, the mechanics as a whole are simple; I read the full set of three in an afternoon, and could have run any of them comfortably by that evening, making this a great purchase for a convention-bound GM.

The biggest appeal to this zine is the number of useful tools within it. Diogo does not skimp on random tables to help generate interesting situations or characters on the fly with a couple dice rolls, and even if I'm not running the game the tables alone are worth the price of admission.

Sadly, the color schemes of each of these may cause problems for those with eyesight issues and/or color-blindness. While the text is light color on a darker background, these are overlapping images on every page, which can be a bit problematic at times.

If you like OSR titles, useful tables for other games, or the general themes of this zine, absolutely pick it up. If you're not a fan of brutal combat and potential character death, dislike OSR, or don't like the theme of the zine, you'll want to give it a pass.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Running Out of Time
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The Dead are Coming
by Anthony D. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 02/21/2021 14:08:57

Fuller review can be found at StickyBunton on 2/24/2021.

I acquired The Dead Are Coming via the Kickstarter, as well as the other two zines from the same line.

Mechanically speaking, the game is a simple OSR mechanic, rolling low on a d20 to determine success. Unlike other OSR-style games, combat is sincerely fast and deadly, with attacks that always hit and damage that can take you out in one hit, buit character creation is almost equally fast to balance things out. That said, the mechanics as a whole are simple; I read the full set of three in an afternoon, and could have run any of them comfortably by that evening, making this a great purchase for a convention-bound GM.

The biggest appeal to this zine is the number of useful tools within it. Diogo does not skimp on random tables to help generate interesting situations or characters on the fly with a couple dice rolls, and even if I'm not running the game the tables alone are worth the price of admission.

Sadly, the color schemes of each of these may cause problems for those with eyesight issues and/or color-blindness. While the text is light color on a darker background, these are overlapping images on every page, which can be a bit problematic at times.

If you like OSR titles, useful tables for other games, or the general themes of this zine, absolutely pick it up. If you're not a fan of brutal combat and potential character death, dislike OSR, or don't like the theme of the zine, you'll want to give it a pass.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
The Dead are Coming
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Screams Amongst The Stars
by Anthony D. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 02/21/2021 14:08:23

Fuller review can be found at StickyBunton on 2/24/2021.

I acquired Screams Amongst the Stars via the Kickstarter, as well as the other two zines from the same line.

Mechanically speaking, the game is a simple OSR mechanic, rolling low on a d20 to determine success. Unlike other OSR-style games, combat is sincerely fast and deadly, with attacks that always hit and damage that can take you out in one hit, buit character creation is almost equally fast to balance things out. That said, the mechanics as a whole are simple; I read the full set of three in an afternoon, and could have run any of them comfortably by that evening, making this a great purchase for a convention-bound GM.

The biggest appeal to these zines, but especially in Screams Amongst the Stars, is the number of useful tools within them. Diogo does not skimp on random tables to help generate interesting situations or characters on the fly with a couple dice rolls, and even if I'm not running the game the tables alone are worth the price of admission.

Sadly, the color schemes of each of these may cause problems for those with eyesight issues and/or color-blindness. While the text is light color on a darker background, these are overlapping images on every page, which can be a bit problematic at times.

If you like OSR titles, useful tables for other games, or the general themes of this zine, absolutely pick it up. If you're not a fan of brutal combat and potential character death, dislike OSR, or don't like the theme of the zine, you'll want to give it a pass.



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[4 of 5 Stars!]
Screams Amongst The Stars
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