Star Wars D6 Random Freighter Names in Star Wars: The RPG Contrarian, October 23, 1999May 11, 2025 Ever wrack your brains for hours trying to christen a tramp freighter for a Star Wars game, and still not come up with a name as good as the Millennium Falcon? I did, until I realized the zen of freighter naming: the good "starwars-ish" names only sound like they make… Continue Reading
Ghostbusters RPG Cryptids in the Ghostbusters RPG Contrarian, August 28, 1998May 11, 2025 Not all critters fit in ghost traps! The Ghostbusters Roleplaying rules suggest the use of non-ghosts for adding variety to campaigns, but don’t really offer much advice. Here are some quick guidelines I developed for classifying non-ghosts critters, and creating non-ghostly critters for the game. Cryptid Terminology First, let’s give… Continue Reading
Spelljammer New Magic Items for SPELLJAMMER® Contrarian, July 5, 1998May 22, 2025 Two new magical items for AD&D Spelljammer campaigns. Continue Reading
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Unofficial New Cantrips for AD&D Contrarian, June 24, 1998May 11, 2025 I actually have about five dozen "new" AD&D® spells sitting in my personal database, but I’m not going to share those until I buy the entire Wizard’s Spell Compendium, and make sure none of my creations are redundant with those hundreds of spells that are now official. Publishing such spells… Continue Reading
Stone Age Weapons (and Defenses) for Star Frontiers® Contrarian, June 21, 1998May 21, 2025 Additional weapons for low-tech societies on the Frontier. Continue Reading
Star Frontiers® Alien Creature Update: Relp Contrarian, June 21, 1998May 15, 2025 TYPE: Large Omnivore NUMBER: 1-5 MOVE: Slow IM/RS: 5/45 STAMINA: 120 ATTACK: 60 DAMAGE: 4d10 or 6d10 SPECIAL ATTACK: None SPECIAL DEFENSE: None NATIVE WORLD: Rupert’s Hole — forest DESCRIPTION: Relps (originally an acronym for "Rupert’s Extremely Large Primates") are 3.2-meter tall humanoid mammals found in the forests of Rupert’s… Continue Reading
Spelljammer Gnomish Inventions for SPELLJAMMER Contrarian, June 21, 1998May 15, 2025 Gnomish Inventions for SPELLJAMMER ® Campaigns I’m suspect I’m the only Dungeon Master ™ who ever actually used the gnomish invention rules from DragonLance Adventures. I’m old-fashioned like that; I think using structured rules for unusual situations helps avoid sloppy thinking and rushed decision making. Also, I just like experimenting… Continue Reading
UPF Military Ranks for STAR FRONTIERS Contrarian, June 21, 1998May 11, 2025 So, where’s the Front Admiral? The Spacefleet Rank Table on page 50 of the Knight Hawks Campaign Book neglects to include any enlisted ranks. Even worse, nothing in the Star Frontiers® rules defines the ranks used in Spacefleet’s planet-storming counterpart, the UPF Landfleet. The tables included here diagram the rank… Continue Reading
Normal Animals in Ghostbusters Contrarian, October 14, 1996May 19, 2025 Some guidelines for creating non-ghostly animals in the GHOSTBUSTERS RPG. Continue Reading
It Came From the Late Late Late Show The Hicksville Reaper Contrarian, May 3, 1995May 11, 2025 Foreword Back around 1992, I realized that I had been a member of the RPGA Network for five years without once submitting anything to the Network’s newszine Polyhedron. Polyhedron exists entirely on membership submissions, and I kept telling myself I should submit something (and if it got accepted, move on… Continue Reading