This is by far one of the best products to come out of the OSR movement. The game is itself not truly a retro-clone, yet its close enough in spirit to a certain old school game that it captures a healthy dose of nostalgia. However, don't let that fool you! The nostalgia is quickly rooted in a very well done and solid game that honestly stands on its own two or three or however many feet it may have. The book is well layout and very easily digested. I will be grabbing the art included version in the near future and may even buy a deadtree edition. This is a very good game.

The only real criticism I have is that while random table are a blast for some games, it would have been nice to a a side note or two about cherry picking mutations for those gamemasters that may want them. This isn't a game breaker though, it is easily house ruled. In fact, much like all the OSR entries, it is by its nature very easy to house rule and modify to your hearts desire!

Over all this module is good for a Play By Post Format. It could be played over the table in little time. the only problem I have with the module is no reason is given for why the Beholder statue is up in the summoning chamber or what the soul sucking crystal ball is suppose to be used f or in the basement of the tower.

I would have liked to have seen the wizard of the tower be some sort of undead bad guy as well but over all its a good intro module.

Some of the material here seems to overlap with regular Labyrinth Lord, as spells and such are reproduced.

Mainly what you get is the "original D&D" feel in character classes and races, which is cool, but I'd have liked to see some discussion of other curiosities of the original game, like magic items, the original combat system with multiple attacks for large monsters and so forth.

I got this at a sale for 4 dollars which seemed fair. For the full 8, I'd have felt a little cheated.

I am a major supporter of the OSR movement and a huge fan of Goblinoid games, with that said I was thrilled to help support this game when I came across the crowd funding campaign for it. The book is beautiful, the layout and art is very reminiscent of the original book (I believe most of the art is from the original book in fact) and I am taken back to an earlier time every time I flip through it. While it is the Star Trek universe with the serial numbers filed off, it is something I plan to run as a Star Trek games. The rules are easily integrated with Mutant Futures and Labyrinth Lord so I have more options to bring my "Final Frontier" sessions to the next level... So next stop? The away team will have to investigate the Deep Space station that was invaded by Zombies! Great Game!

Starships and Spaceman 2e is a revised and generally cleaned up version of the original FGU game from 1978. The original version was essentially Classic Star Trek with names changed to protect the innocent dating from a time before the whole Trek Universe became so top heavy it was pointless, and the second edition hasn't strayed far from its roots in that respect.

Character Generation Character generation is FAST, 3d6 for 6 characteristics, pick a race, pick a class and your off to selecting your equipment. Skills are simplified down to 4 (Military, Science Technical and Contact) and the skill level depends on your level, class and characteristics. Classes are Military (Yellow Shirt) Science (Blue Shirt) and Technical (Red Shirt) with subclasses - Military for example allows you to specialise in Command, Security, or Ships Weapons with various bonuses. If you take the command Subclass you get a ship to command. All characters start as Ensigns although there are rules for playing an enlisted crewman and a suggestion of troupe play

Races Races include a wide selection ranging of both Trekish and Non-Trekish from Taurans (Copper Blooded and highly Logical) and Andromedans (Blue and emotional) to Rigellians (Human offshoot mercenaries) and Hyukhot (Small Frog like aliens) along with some others.

Equipment Money just isn't a factor, you get a certain number of points (level + 1 for officers) and use that to determine your equipment issue, with items ranging from Half a point to 5 points. A starting character can usually only manage a communicator, Universal translator and hand Beamer or some variation so it does follow the idea of not overloading shore parties with gear.

Combat Combat is quick and simple, D20 under your Military skill +modifiers to hit, you get a set number of hit points based on class and level, get to zero hit points and you die unless you can be transported back to the ship and cryofrozen for later revival. Also, the best class for combat starts off at level 1 with 1d8 HP and the normal weapons do 2d6 damage...so don't expect long combats

Ships The original game stood out for the elegance and simplicity of its ship combat system and the new version hasn't messed with that. Ships are primarily rated on how much energy they can produce per day and you need to manage that (travel at high speed, or travel slow with shields up? have energy set aside to charge the beam weapons or wing it?) You can go over budget but that damages the engine. Combat with ships is simple and quick, if you enjoy mapping out ship combats this is probably not for you, On the other hand if you enjoy watching the Captain, the Engineer and the Weapons Guy arguing over how many beam weapons to charge, this is for you.

Basic Gameplay Its a rough universe with all manner or unmapped astronomical oddities to encounter. Players are given a mission as part of the Confederation Space Fleet and have to travel to planet or place, complete mission and return (or go to next mission) so its fairly episodic. As players level up they will get more hit points, be assigned bigger ships an have access to more equipment.

Likes Unlike more modern Sci Fi where your winning if you live another day, or don't get caught breaking too many laws, or in some military wonderland, this harks back to a simpler time were space was there to be explored. There are hostile aliens and you can run political intrigue, but overall it feels more like your playing Hornblower than Han Solo.

Dislikes Some of the editing of the rules leaves a little to be desired. The age table was left in unchanged from the original and mentions characteristics that no longer exist and isn't really logical. The Psi rules need a bit more work, but overall the new edition has cleaned up a lot of the problems from the 1978 version

Final Verdict Three thumbs up for speed, setting and elegance!

The Tomb of Sigyfel is a well written, clear little module that does what it sets out to do: Serve as a short introductory adventure. The overall quality is good with no errors or conflicting information. The map is well drawn and lends itself to use anytime a quick side trip might be needed. Although designed for Labyrinth Lord, I will be using it for AD&D 1e with no problems.

This appears to be a free PDF of a rules-lite version of BRP, and a mixture of CoC and Runequest. I've thoroughly enjoyed going through this PDF.

I've even joined the forum on Goblinoidgames.com, and added some resources for the GORE rules. Adaptable, easy, and free.

I've also found a PDF called Stress and trauma for GORE , which is helpful.

All in all, I'd recommend that anyone who likes a D100/percentage system, should give GORE a try, you won't be disappointed.

WHAT WORKS: Well, there’s a no-art free version. That’s kind of a big deal, and it has bit of support, due in part to the OGL. The monster section has some really cool and unique options, and its compatibility with Labyrinth Lord can allow for some interesting scenarios if you and your players aren’t fantasy (or PostApoc) purists.

WHAT DOESN’T WORK: If you don’t like D&D as a base, this probably isn’t going to be your thing. If you want a developed setting, rather than an excuse for hex crawls or dungeon crawls with ray guns and mutant powers, this probably isn’t your thing.

CONCLUSION: If you’re into PostApoc games, you should at least download the free, no-art version. No reason not to. It’s worth it for swiping from the bestiary, in my opinion. Similarly, if you’re into old school D&D, there’s probably at least an odd monster or two that’s worth messing with. For my part, I had a blast with modifying one of my AD&D 2e characters (a bastard sword swinging elven fighter) into a Gamma World character once, transplanting him (complete with bastard sword) onto a PostApoc Earth where he traded horses for motorcycles and chain mail for trench coats. Mutant Future isn’t likely to ever make the rotation at my table, because I don’t really do the D&D base system thing anymore, and there’s other PostApoc games I’m dying to run, but it’s still a very good product that should scratch the PostApoc itch for older school gamers.

For my full review, please visit http://mostunreadblogever.blogspot.com/2012/08/tommys-take-on-mutant-future.html

This might be one of the first Old-School style witches that I purchased. In this supplement for OSRIC we get the Diabolical Witch. A witch that gains her powers and spells from the various demon and devil lords. Its a cross between a cleric and wizard, maybe with more emphasis on the cleric side of things. The level progression is closer to the cleric than the wizard to be honest. There are new spells, just a redistribution of current OSRIC spells. They get a number of special powers, some make sense (clerical turning and shapeshift) others not as much (limited thief abilities). A nice feature is how witches of different demon lords, devils get different powers.

Fantastic bit of work that extends your LL games into the "Advanced" territory. Plenty of new options for players and GMs alike. If you enjoy LL and are a fan of the 1st edition rules then this is a must have!

What can one say about Wizard's World? Well for starters it could be easily dismissed as yet another fantasy heartbreaker, but I don't think that would be fair really. Yes it's AD&D roots are showing and there is a lot about the this game that is derivative. But that is looking at it in 2012. To look at this game as it was meant to be seen you have look at it with 1983 eyes.

This game offers some interesting twists beyond the typical D&D knock-off. First I love the art in this book. Sure there has been better art, much better art, even in books from the same time. But there is such an honesty about it that I enjoy. And I LOVE that cover. The attributes are nearly the same, enough that conversions are easy. The charts all go to 30 which is nice. Ok so we have a bunch of classes, many of which would drop right into AD&D, OSRIC or what ever Clone you enjoy. There are a number of fighter-like classes, that honestly only differ a little bit from each other, but that is fine. Some martial artists, some magic using types, 14 total. What is cool is there is Vampire class! Something we won't see again till D&D4. We have all the standard races plus some new ones, Metamorphic Dwarfs and Demon Halflings. Honestly the book is worth it just to be able to say "Demon Halflings"!

There are 22 pages worth of spells that go all the way to level 10.
Rules follow next which is primarily about combat, weapons, poisons, potions and the like. A little bit on magic items. Monsters follow. There are a few, but almost no overlap between here and what you might find in a typical monster manual for a game. There are dragons, but very different from what we are used to seeing in "D&D".
Some suggestions for play and threadbare character sheet.

Ok what is good about this game? Lots really. If you play D&D or some old school game you would be hard pressed not to find something here to use. Did I mention the Demon Halflings yet? There are plenty of monsters and lots of spells.

What is bad? That is subjective. If you are not a fan of old-school play or expect full color art then you will be disappointed.

What did I like? Nearly everything really. I have to hand it to Dan Procter and Goblinoid Games for becoming an old-games preservation society. This game isn't going to win any awards now nor would it have won any then, but it is a fun trip into the past when many games were little more than a few pages, a staple and your friend's brother to do the art.

At 80+ pages this is packed.

(Purchased copy)

Goblinoid Games have been really treating us recently to nibblets of the past with titles like Starships & Spacemen and Time Master.

I really enjoying buying older titles, often only to read, sometimes to mine ideas or compare and contrast with other games in my collection from the same period. With Wizards' World, it's primarily the collector, and curious archivist in me that hits the "add to cart" button (and by the way, real shoppers don't do wish-lists!). In saying that, this is an easy system to learn and play, with familiar mechanics and would definitely be enjoyed by more traditional of players

The text is an electronic scan conversion of the original rulebook (or it's been retyped) with black and white pencil and ink art - also presumably from the original book. I trust Goblinoid Games when it comes to creating loyal facsimiles. I'm guessing that this is as close as you can get to looking at the original game without maxing out of download sizes (which can happen when the original text is presented as a scanned image). At 83 pages long it's a "complete" system, but it's a pretty concise all-you-need level-based-progression D&D-type game.

Lots of space is given over to a fascinating variety of races and classes. Standing out in terms of originality are the Demonic Halflings, Metamorphic Dwarves, Jesters and Vampires (there's definitely more races and classes than in the AD&D PH). Some of the dice mechanics will seem familiar and yet it's different enough from D&D or RuneQuest to warrant a thorough look. After spell lists and a bestiary, the rest of the rules feel rather "squeezed" into this fantasy Happy Meal.

I'm guessing that if you're a connoisseur of the main game systems from the late 70s to early 80s Wizards' World will entertain and fascinate.

There's something about the production values, illustrations and writing style which really makes me want to place this game two or three years earlier than 1983: it provides more choice for players when compared with D&D B/X or AD&D, maybe T&T or RQ1, whilst not providing oodles of extra rules as in the AD&D DMG. It lacks the marketing gloss and introductory easy-play game chapters which start to appear from around 1983. (I won't be backing up this generalisation, by the way, just drawing a hazy line in my own narrow perception of gaming history. ;) However, I actually have a real soft spot for well presented do-this-then-that play-by-example games)

If you collect older games, Wizards' World is a classic, yet subtly refreshing, absolute bargain of game.

"Demonic Halfling Vampires"! What more do you need to hear?

-Billiam B. (More confused thoughts here: http://bit.ly/rpgblog_WW )

Mutant Future is not really a Retro-clone, near clone or anything like that. The closest game game it is like is Gamma World. Set in a post apocalyptic world, Gamma World has it roots in the dawn of the RPG age and D&D in particular. Filled with mutant animals, plants and humans of all sorts. Gamma World was fun but it was not a game I played much. One of the reasons was it was close enough to D&D but far enough removed that my teenage self dismissed it as a lesser product. Stupid I know.

Mutant Future not only doesn't have that issue (it is the exact same rules as Labyrinth Lord) but I don't have the same issues. So Mutant Future then is a new game that feels like an old game that never really existed.

Mutant Future does have some differences from LL. The game is set in a post apocalyptic Earth like Gamma World. Characters can be an Android, synthetic, mutant animals, mutant plant, mutant human or the rare pure human (which is what I always played. I know...), also like Gamma World. Abilities can go as high as 21 and there are a different set of saving throws, but the basic rules are the same.

The book is easy to read with clear layout. The game itself is fun, fast paced and easy to learn.

I did have an issue with the monetary system (gold pieces??) but I would change it to barter anyway.

This is a solid game. I am so glad that Gobliniod Games used the Pacesetter rules system. The system is easy to learn and very smooth. No tons of back story stuff. A Corpse Master (GM) can do what ever He/She likes for a setting.

Quite a good old school feel about it. I can see the similarities between Chill & Rotworld (obviously using the same engine). Strangely, I understood the basic mechanics reading Chill (first time round), but it took a few readings before getting the 'gist' with Rotworld. Don't know why. The outlay is obviously different, but both work rather well.

The artwork is pretty good. The sections on the causes of zombification (zombology), and using paranormal talents are good.

It's well packed (65 pages) with info on zombie survival, radiation, poison, etc.

At the mere price of £3.13, it's a bargain! A must buy!