The Organisation Space Pirates 05

I have recently been repainting and rebasing some of my old 28mm scale sci-fi figures to use in my The Ace of Spades Campaign. These four figures were made by Citadel Miniatures for their first edition of Warhammer 40,000 and are now long out of production. I have decided to use them as part of the galaxy spanning criminal empire known as The Organisation. You'll notice that all four of them are bare-chested - they are so tough they don't believe in armour!

At the far left is Roark "The Executioner" Elton - a young tough as nails human clone boxer who enjoys inflicting pain. Clones age at half the speed of normal humans so although he is 30 years old, he is still classed as young. Clones reach adulthood at 50 and old age at 120. He was cloned to be a boxer on his home planet of Core-Tiann 1 (Survias) where cloning and genetic experimentation is a common practice. For 15 years he had a very successful career in the ring, winning most of his matches. But there is always someone new waiting in the wings to be the next sensation and Roark was coerced to take a dive in a major title fight. Losing did not sit well with him and he quit the boxing profession and drifted into a life of crime. It was here that his previous talents were noted by The Organisation. Crimelord, Mal DuCham, offered him a new opportunity to revive his career in the underground death match arenas. With nothing to lose and the promise of a massive payouts, he accepted. He now fights in bouts where there are no rules and the thrill of bloody combat fills him with excitement. He is armed with an East Sun XMT28 Phase Chainsword, a Short-sword and a 9mm Slugger Pistol. He is rank grade:7 with a 6d6 dice pool.
Next in line is Dalbert Morren, an ambidextrous human Organisation smuggler who enjoys strong liquor when off duty. He was born on the ocean world of Travis Reguli Beta 2, where he first worked as a fisherman, then a diver. Alcohol was a rarity on his planet and once he acquired a taste for the strong stuff, he branched out into being a smuggler, which proved to be far more profitable than his regular job. Being a smuggler he was quickly noticed by The Organisation, who kept him under observation for a few years before approaching him with the offer of membership. He was introduced to Kort Kasyga, captain of The Golden Dagger, who recognised Dalbert as a kindred spirit. The two found they had much in common, so Dalbert joined Kort's crew and hasn't looked back since. He is armed with a high quality Blaster Pistol and a high quality Short-sword. He is rank grade:6 with a 6d6 dice pool.

Second from the right is Bijam "Dragon" Soomro, a nimble Organisation pirate who believes in myths and legends. Of Pakistani origin, he was orphaned at an early age on the jungle planet Kaiwaith 2 (Moonjam). At the age of 12 he absconded from the orphanage and joined a gang of street thugs, where he was a loyal member for six years. His life of crime came to a temporary stop when he was arrested and sentenced to ten years imprisonment, which was reduced to six for good behaviour. Whilst in prison, he had begun studying the martial arts, and upon his release, he left Moonjam to find a dojo where he could study Southern Shaolin Kung Fu. He got lucky and for the next four years he applied himself rigorously to honing his martial arts skills. He got into a bar-room brawl at a spaceport and wiped the floor with his attackers. His performance was noted by pirate captain Kort Kasyga, who offered him a place on his ship, The Golden Dagger. Knowing his criminal record would preclude him from many jobs, Dalbert agreed and a couple of years later he was offered full membership into The Organisation. Unusually, he is armed with a Tangler Carbine, which is used for restraining victims in a mesh of sticky substances, doing no actual damage. He much prefers getting in close and personal, using his feet and fists to beat his opponents or, as a last resort, his Short-sword. He is rank grade:6 with a 6d6 dice pool.
Finally is Kipp "Feral" Kendal, a young human clone Organisation assassin who prefers to work alone. He was an experimental clone created by a black ops division of the DeMeriville Industries Ltd. megacorporation on the planet Braggi 2 (Cretaceous) in the Byte starsector. As its name would suggest, Cretaceous is a volcanic, jungle world similar to Terra during its Cretaceous Era and populated with many similar dinosaurs. Kipp was tasked with jungle fighting alongside a mercenary group hired by DeMeriville. All went well until near the end of his second tour of duty when Kipp went on a killing spree, murdering his fellow mercenaries and then vanishing into the jungle. No-one knows why this happened but he was reported missing in action and presumed dead. Eventually he sneaked back to Port Dinosaur, avoiding the other starport run by DeMeriville and he escaped off planet. He secured a new job working as a bodyguard and bruiser for an Organisation crime-boss who passed on his details to his superiors. They were particularly interested in him and he was offered a post in their Assassination Bureau, where he worked alongside Loretta Masaryk. He is armed with a Ding Exploration IG66 Zero Point Hunting Rifle, a Military Combination Carbine with an underslung Grenade Launcher and a Short-sword with the High Damage and Vicious upgrades. Just like Loretta, he also has a Retinal Implant with Telescopic Sight to aid him in long range attacks. He is a fearsome opponent with rank grade:8 and a 7d6 dice pool.
It was fun designing these four characters as I used extra options on them all, like making two of them clones. Bijam and Dalbert took careers, exploits and skills from the N.O.W. rulebook, showing just how versatile the WOIN system is.

The Nereid Trilogy Supplement

The Nereid Trilogy is an 84 page supplement for the WOIN N.E.W. role-playing game by EN Publishing and was written by Jacob Rodgers. It is written for intrepid adventurers of grades 5-8.
It starts with a brief outline of the various factions found in the Nereid starsector followed by detailed stats for the 23 planetary systems found within the Nereid starsector. Adventure seeds are provided for each planetary system for GM's and players who want to expand on the scenarios provided.
The Last Survivor is the first scenario in the trilogy and involves the PCs exploring a space ship, the merchant vessel S.S. Selkirk, that is on a crash course with Orchid Station, where the PCs are initially based. The ship does not respond to communications attempts. Once the PCs board the ship, they discover it has been taken over by an alien lifeform. The heroes might mistake the single alien for group of aliens. Eventually, they should learn enough to understand that the alien means no harm, but that the crew of the ship had to evacuate. Then the heroes will need to save the crew and battle a ruthless Ogryn slaver called Bauk in a dangerous asteroid field before he captures the stranded crew members.
The Harvester Moon is a direct sequel and sees the PCs tasked with discovering what Bauk's plot is for needing so many slaves. The Harvester Moon is the base of his operations, a moon with an unusual orbit that passes in and out of the Vortex, a cloud of energy that plays havoc with communications and sensor systems. The PCs could go undercover to discover the warlord's plans or sneak in stealthily. Once they've freed themselves from the Harvester Moon, the heroes need to stay alive long enough to signal the UFP or escape their captors.
The Virosa Accord is the final part of the trilogy. The heroes will be invited to be part of the UFP First Contact team to meet the Virosa aliens officially. They'll have the chance to interact with the leads of the mission, as each tries to convince the heroes to their often divergent viewpoints. There are divided factions on both sides. This is a more cerebral adventure to the ones that have preceded it.
I have mentioned the UFP in my descriptions, purely because they are the primary star-force of my own campaign. In the supplement, they are called the Union but in your setting they could be the Alliance, the Confederation, the Empire or whatever name you have for them. It would be useful but isn't strictly necessary if your party of heroes contains at least one psionicist, preferably a telepath.
I very much want to run this trilogy as part of my The Ace of Spades Campaign. In the introduction, it states, "Once you've placed the Nereid Sector into space then all we need do in order to introduce the adventures is to have the crew of a small ship be in the sector and willing to pick up odd jobs. The plots of the Nereid Trilogy assume that the characters are the sorts who will take up honest work and report more or less accurate information back to the authorities, who might assist them."
That perfectly describes Kimberley and her crew. Plus, with having the Venetian telepath, Danica, as part of their crew, that will make the scenario go a lot more smoothly in their interactions with the alien Virosa.
Amazon UK have The Nereid Trilogy on sale for £10.99 or you can download a PDF version of it from DriveThruRPG for £6.22. Clearly, I am a big fan of this scenario set but whether you think so too is a matter of personal preference. I am delighted that the WOIN games are getting so much support in terms of new supplements and scenarios.

Dark Decade: From Dust to Dawn Supplement

Welcome to the Dark Decade.
The 1980s were a dark time, with the shadow of nuclear annihilation, and the constant give and take of the Cold War, Central American Guerrilla Uprisings, corporate greed and the rise of MTV. There is, however, another danger, more evasive, but more immediate. There is a dark and supernatural subculture that lives parallel to our own, a world of vampires, ghouls, monsters, mad scientists and demons. Only the heroes—using their divinely inspired, sorcerous, or technological abilities—can keep these hidden, but deadly, forces of evil at bay. This adventure takes place in 1980s New York City, and enmeshes the players deeply into the modern horror genre as vampires and worse prey on the populace.
Includes new Dhampir and Werewolf heritages along with the Vampire Slayer, Demonologist, Exorcist, Guardian, and Sorcerer careers. 
The adventure From Dust to Dawn takes the characters from the streets of New York into a dark section of the New York Underground, a hidden corner of the world away from prying eyes, as they track down a dangerous new drug that transforms the youth of today into psychotic killers.
Requires the use of a What's OLD is NEW core rulebook.

This is the second of EN Publishing's alternative world campaign settings (the first being Xenomorphs) and this is set in the contemporary period of New York in the 1980's, so the N.O.W. rulebook will prove especially useful to run it. This setting is very similar to the ones found in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Being Human and The Vampire Diaries, where supernatural creatures like ghouls, vampires, werewolves and zombies exist but the vast majority of humanity are unaware of them. Only a small select few know the truth, and these include the player characters of this setting.

This 44 page supplement was written by Russ Morrissey, Osvaldo Oyola and Darren Pearce.  After the introduction, we get two new heritages (the Dhampir and the Werewolf), new careers (Demonologist, Exorcist, Guardian, Sorcerer and Vampire Slayer), rules on Sorcery in this setting, new items of equipment and a look at some of the key locations in New York as they were in the 1980's. This is followed by five short adventure ideas for the GM to expand upon. Next up is a bestiary of monsters and other opponents including stats for the three major villainous NPCs. Note that any one of these has the potential to be a total party killer, so if the heroes are to take them on, they should be well prepared. The chief villain, a vampire known as The Vampire Prime is rank 12d6, whereas the heroes all start at rank 5d6!
The main meat of this book is a long scenario called From Dust to Dawn, which takes the characters from the streets of New York into a dark section of the New York Underground, a hidden corner of the world away from prying eyes, as they track down a dangerous new drug that transforms the youth of the day into psychotic killers. The Dust, or Fang Powder as some of the pushers call it, is a powerful new narcotic that enhances the body, sharpens the senses, and drives the bloodlust of young people through the roof. Dust is made by killing vampires, either with direct sunlight or UV lamps. Written in three Acts, it runs to 14 pages and is an excellent adventure.
Finally, the supplement is rounded off with five pre-generated player characters for you to use if you don't want to design your own. My favourite out of these is Diana Dubois, a martial artist and nun who thinks she is the reincarnation of Joan of Arc.
Given my love of all things undead, this is a supplement I have been looking forward to getting my hands on ever since it was first announced. I would very much love to run a campaign in this setting, either with the five pre-generated characters or a team of my own. My character of Vampifan from my ATZ:FFO campaigns would fit in perfectly. So too, would Vampirella, if the party wanted some high powered help to take out The Vampire Prime. All in all, this is one of my favourite WOIN supplements. You can purchase the soft-backed book of it from Amazon UK for £8.99. See here - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dark-Decade-Dust-Russ-Morrissey/dp/1728767326/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1542017608&sr=1-4&keywords=woin+rpg

N.E.W. Universal Upgrades

This is a review of the N.E.W. Universal Upgrades supplement which gives advanced character options. This is a collection of articles taken from the EONS website, the official magazine for the WOIN role-playing systems. Here is a list of its contents -
New Upgrades for Androids Over 20 upgrade exploits for android player characters. I found this article incredibly useful when I was creating the stats for Celeste. It is one of the best articles in the book.
Solurials Plant based parasitic aliens.
Drahzik Ferocious galactic man-hunters. These are very similar to the Predator aliens.
Houseki Ponderous crystalline beings.
Pajak Greedy insectoid thieves and bandits.
Jamila Beautiful humanoids who exude strong pheromones.
Zetan Phased beings who move at incredible speeds.
Kryte Crystalline psionic barbarians.
Clones Genetically engineered humans grown in tanks.
Belters Men and women from asteroids and low gravity planets.
Jovians Sturdy, serious people from high gravity planets.
Warped Crazed psychic humans from near black holes.
New Universal Exploits Nearly 30 new exploits for all WOIN genres. Another extremely useful article. All of these new exploits appear in the N.O.W. rulebook.
Hobbies and Quirks Advanced rules for choosing and using your character hook. For me, this is by far, the most useful article in the book and is one I refer to constantly when creating new characters. This is another article that can be used with any WOIN rulebook.
Ageing with Grace Expanded rules and exploits for older characters. Once again, an article that useful for any WOIN rulebook.
Reputation, Contacts and Credit Rules to make the most out of your REP score.
What Does my Logic Score Mean? Guidelines for intelligence and languages.
I rate this supplement very highly. Some of the articles are extremely useful and indeed have been integrated into the N.E.W. and N.O.W. rulebooks. The articles for the new alien races are the ones I'll use the least although I did use the rules for the Drahzik when I created a couple of Predator characters to use in my The Ace of Spades Campaign. Clones, Belters, Jovians and Warped give you more options for creating human characters and so are very useful. The last four articles in the supplement were very well written and extremely useful. The articles on New Universal Exploits and Hobbies and Quirks made this supplement a must have buy for me. All in all, this is an excellent supplement for anyone interested in the WOIN games. Although it is  primarily written for N.E.W. gamers there are articles in here that will be useful in any other WOIN setting. You can buy this supplement form Amazon UK for £14.70. Here's a link for it - https://www.amazon.co.uk/WOIN-Universal-Upgrades-Russ-Morrissey/dp/136575281X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1541325558&sr=8-1&keywords=Woin+universal+upgrades