Kickstarter - No One Warps For Free! (Alpha Blue)

Say what you want about Venger, it doesn't change the fact that his production qualities are top notch:

This book will be full-color and feature fantastic artwork.  I got the taste for color with Blood Dark Thirst and Battle Star: Trek Wars... now, there's no going back! 

Here's a look at the interior layout for both the PDF and (CreateSpace / Amazon) softcover by Glynn Seal of MonkeyBlood Design.  He does awesome work and Kort'thalis Publishing is fortunate to have his services at our slimy pink and blue disposal.

Here's the thing - I'm not a huge Alpha Blue fan. I am, however, a huge fan of good adventures. Just like I run DCC RPG adventures in my Swords & Wizardry games I'm quite likely to run some Alpha Blue adventures in my White Star games. Good adventures rise above the system they are written for.

Did I mention you can get the PDF of No One Warps For Free! for 10 bucks?

The art isn't bad either - though most of the samples might push up against Tavern Norms ;)

Free Game - Alpha Blue (Full Rules) - Through Sunday (Venger / Adult Material)

From now through Sunday, Alpha Blue, the raunchy (and behind the OBS Adults Only wall) SciFi RPG from non-other than Venger Santanis, is FREE in PDF through Sunday.

This is your chance to peek at this controversial RPG (due to content) without spending a dime.

Why is it free? Venger explains over on his blog.

Here's the link for Alpha Blue.

Yep, that's an affiliate link above. Sure, Alpha Blue is free but maybe you'll want to grab something along with it that isn't free ;)

Kickstarter - Battle Star Trilogy: Trek Wars (Alpha Blue)

You've got to hand it to Venger - he knows how to market and he KNOWs how to source some amazing art. Now, not all of the art is appropriate for every gaming table but V doesn't hide that. Titillation is very much one of his schticks.

You also can't agrue with the success of Alpha Blue. Its a Copper Pick at RPGNow and has a very strong and loyal, if relatively small compared to Stars Without Number and White Star, following amongst the Sci-Fi OSR crowd. Folks that embrace the quirky humor and sexual innuendos (or more overtly sexual references) really enjoy the Alpha Blue line of releases.

Battle Star Trilogy: Trek Wars is the latest in the line of Alpha Blue Kickstarters.

So, what do you get?

Three separate scenarios for the Alpha Blue roleplaying game!  Here are the titles... I Wear My Heart on My Sleaze (you're attending a space party and looking to score), Emergency Escape Sequence Delta Cream (your ship runs into trouble and you've got to get the fuck out of there), and Outer Rim Jobs of Ta'andor (your crew of spacers are looking for employment and crazy shit happens along the way).

I'm sure you see the theme here ;)

Did I mention there is a map by +MonkeyBlood Design (Glynn Seal) ? PDF only, but wow, useable with any old school sci-fi system.

Here's is a more family friendly art sample:

As I said above, the art that Venger sources is simply top shelf awesome.

Now, the 3 adventures in PDF are 7 bucks. But if you get them with the Alpha Blue rules, its 10 bucks. The rules themselves at RPGNow are 10 bucks (there's a link above to the rules on RPGNow but don't use it to buy, just use it for reference - this is a much better deal if you are interested)

Kickstarter - Gamma Turquoise: Santa Fe Starport (Alpha Blue / OSR SciFi)

Say what you want about Venger Santanis (and some will ;) - his Kickstarters ALWAYS have amazing (if provocative) art, they are always on time and are a good value for their money.

While I may not have much personal use for Alpha Blue, a starport / mutant wasteland that can be easily ported into White Star IS something I have use for.

That's what Gamma Turquoise: Santa Fe Starport is - starport, mutant wasteland and I expect a whole lotta future inspiration for my White Star gaming. Maybe even port it to Mutant Crawl Classics or Mutant Future.

Basic buy in is 5 bucks for the PDF.

I haven't explored the post-apocalypse genre that often, so this is a big deal to me.  I want to get deep in there and do it right, coming up with weird, outlandish things in a world devastated by cataclysmic forces. PCs will be eating crock-rat and scorpion-skunk roadkill, drinking their own piss, giving hand jobs for precious gasoline, and pretending to worship the glowing faces of a malevolent and insane god that floats somewhere in the yellow smog of the forbidden zone. Not everyone will survive.  In fact, some won't even want to.  That's just the way things are now.   

There are already a lot of cool post-apocalyptic RPGs out there.  Gamma Turquoise: Santa Fe Starport will focus on making your after-the-bomb gaming experience more awesome.  I strive to hit that sweet spot between rules-light and rules-non-existent, where flavor, story, ideas, artwork, scenario seeds, and random tables dominate.  Indeed, this book will have utility far beyond the scenario presented.  You'll want to give this to your grand-kids when they go off adventuring in post-apocalyptic lands. 

I provide you with the finest tools so that YOU can create your own irradiated landscape full of mutated skeezoid scum dogs (tentacled, of course).  But this won't be a lame outline that you have to flesh out.  No, you're in good hands - Venger's warlock hands! 

If you want a lot of crunchy, bloated, system nonsense that has no business being in a toolbox like this, then move along.  Nothing to see here...

Yep, there are affiliate links above. Using The Tavern's affiliate links helps to support The Tavern. Huzzah!

So, Just How Offensive is Alpha Blue?

How offensive is Alpha Blue to my eyes? Not very.

Sure, the subject matter may seem juvenile to me (and I'm going to still run with the tagline Porky's meets Babylon 5 / Deep Space 9) and it might not be something I'd run, but on the offensive meter it doesn't hit the level I'd expected. Alpha Blue does not go to Eleven. Maybe six or a rounded up seven.

Now, while there is a noticeable amount of outrage for the inclusion of the poorly named Rape Machine (easy enough to find as it's listed in the nicely hyperlinked Table of Contents and then sits by it's lonesome on the page you are taken to) the description of the use of the machine is actually fairly tame. I suspect if +Venger Satanis had named in the Unwilling Fuck Machine it would have both fit the setting better AND not have generated the amount of outrage we're seeing.

Hell, maybe the Rape Machine is not what generated the complaint that has temporarily (thus far) removed Alpha Blue from the virtual shelves of OBS. Maybe it was someone offended by The Interstellar Caliphate.

Interstellar Caliphate you say? That is so Politically Incorrect. It's there, over the top, campy and politically incorrect as hell like the rest of Alpha Blue:

According to the Interstellar Caliphate, those who refuse
to submit before the will of Allah are considered infidels
and shall be made to suffer. And suffer they do under the
oppressive, religious imperialism carried out by their
ghazi troopers. 

While the entire faction does not go to such ideological
lengths, the Interstellar Caliphate is full of extremists.
Many of whom believe that if they die in service to their
"holy war", they'll be granted 72 cyber virgins in paradise.

Color me not offended but I'm sure some would be. It is a work of fiction and I suspect no infidels were made to suffer in the writing of this work. Oh, and it's a decent hook for an evil cult. BTW, my great aunt was a Catholic Nun and I wasn't offended by their depiction in Far Away Land, which also went with a humorous approach.

As for the Unwilling Fuck Machine (Trademark Pending) -

Originally built as an automated penetration device, the
templars of a dark god modified it to rape unwilling
subjects. These templars used the device as punishment
for disobedience, but soon the rape unwilling fuck machine

became a public spectacle that satiated their twisted lust for                                           pain and degradation. 

There are certainly templars aboard Alpha Blue - some
probably worship demonic deities. Chances are that one
of those cults will have a rape unwilling fuck machine for

"cleansing the palate".

(edit - we have some formatting issues - live with it ;)

Not there for PC use, it's there as a plot hook. An evil device used by templars of a dark god. Kinda like a sacrificial altar in the fantasy game / dungeon of your choice. No detailed description of how it works. Four simple sentences.

Now rape is and of itself is a four letter word and I'm sure just the word itself is offensive and hurtful to some. I understand that. I do think Half-Orcs in AD&D are far more offensive than this, as Half-Orcs are the result of the forcible rape of another race by an orc. A player race whose whole existence is based on rape. It sure as hell isn't love.

What does offend me in Alpha Blue is the amount of "white space" left unused on many of the pages. Oh, and the women with the 70's hairdos. My God what a painful recollection to have forced on one unwillingly. That which is seen can not be unseen.

I may mine Alpha Blue for some of it's tamer random tables but on the whole it probably won't see much use at my gaming table. I do, however understand the appeal it has for others. Porky's meets Babylon 5 / Deep Space 9 certainly has an audience even if it isn't me.

edit: DungeonMastahWieg - Bingo!

Why You Should be Concerned that Alpha Blue got Temporarily Pulled From OBS

If you read The Tavern you probably already know my opinion of +Venger Satanis 's Alpha Blue. Based upon the blurb alone - juvenile, sexually oriented campy humor done in poor taste - Porkey's meets Deep Space 9 I'd guess. No, never read it. Until last week I didn't have time to read the RPGs I was deeply interested, let alone those I wasn't. It simply wasn't "my bag" as presented, but it did appeal to a sizable audience.

Still, this in no Tournament of Rapists, whose very blurb made it seem like the PCs were supposed to be rapists (yes, the author explained how that perception was wrong but he wrote the very words that led to that perception)

You can't miss the fact that Alpha Blue (dead link for now) is over the top in it's campy portrayal of sex. It doesn't hide the fact. Shit, look at the cover.

It was, however, available on OneBookShelf for MONTHS and sold relatively well (after a successful Kickstarter campaign). Pulling it now for review (and taking up to 2 weeks to review it) seems half assed.

Now, OBS does have an "adult content" filter and I have no idea if Alpha Blue was behind that or not. I generally see their filter at the R rating area - be an adult or let your parent buy it for you section. If it was behind that restriction already and it's been pulled now, I'd be really pissed if I were Venger.

This is not censorship in the "free speech" sort one usually thinks of. OBS is not the government. It is, however a slippery slope and one where I'd prefer the content stay live and a review be conducted expeditiously in the meantime. I suspect on some level the new closeness between OBS and WotC had something to do with this.

Edit - Girls Gone Rogue IS NOT suspended. Go figure.