A Scenario Hook for Ashen Stars The lasers pick up a contract for what appears to be a simple rescue mission. The massive freighter Never Given has lost faster-than-light capability and has become lodged in a translight corridor. Characters with Astronomy or Forensic Engineering want to hear that last bit again. Lodged in a translight […]
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Trail of Cthulhu
As we enter our ninety-sixth year of lockdown, we’ve lost all concept of space, time, and externality. If you’re looking for an introductory session to get your group into the Dracula Dossier, pick up this month’s PDF release The Dracula Vector. New Releases The Dracula Vector – An introductory adventure for Night’s Black Agents, which can […]
We want your ideas as part of the GUMSHOE Community on DriveThruRPG! The GUMSHOE Community is a home for independent creators to upload products like adventures, rules supplements, monsters, and whatever else you can dream up. If you’ve got a wild idea, whether it’s a new planet you homebrewed for Ashen Stars, or a creature […]
In the new Community Content Spotlight, each month I’ll be writing up a short review of a community content title, all of which are available on DriveThruRPG. See this page if you’re interested in creating something for our Community Program! —————————————— With Rogues’ Galaxy, Chris Sellers turns the standard Ashen Stars setup on its head. […]
We continue to be in the grip of the toughest pandemic of our lifetimes, and we’ve shifted towards a more virtual way of living here in the Pelgrane’s Nest. Find out what’s new and happening in the Pelgrane in the Time of the Corona below, and check out new pre-orders Swords of the Serpentine, Honey […]
It’s been a long two months, and we hope that you’re staying safe and well, and adapting to life in self-isolation. We’ve been very fortunate in that both our UK and US warehouses are able to work while remaining compliant with the regulations of the UK & Nevada state authorities’ health recommendations. All US & […]
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Apr
In his essay “Something About Cats,” H.P. Lovecraft asks, “What fully civilised soul but would eagerly serve as high priest of Bast?” And indeed, what soul would not, in any civilization, from Ulthar to England to the Dragon Empire to outer space?
She Who Scratches, the Lady of the Ointment Jar, the great cat-goddess of nighted Khem comes alive in all her varied forms: as a Trail of Cthulhu titan (complete with her monstrous Brood of Bubastis), mysterious Ashen Stars entity, TimeWatch cult leader, and 13th Age Icon. Read further that you may join the souls Bast plays with, the many souls pricked by She Who Scratches. Good kitty!
Bast is the eleventh installment of the third Ken Writes About Stuff subscription.
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Apr
Apr
Now the war’s over, and you and your crew of freelance effectuators patrol the edge of civilized space, trying to pay the bills while you keep the peace.
But the competition in this line is fierce, and sometimes you have to cut corners — which makes you wonder if justice bought and paid for is any justice at all…
The Justice Trade contains three adventures for Ashen Stars – The Justice Trade, Terra Nova and Tartarus – written by Leonard Balsera, author of Profane Miracles and co-author of the smash hit Dresden Files; GUMSHOE designer and gaming luminary Robin D. Laws, and Bill White, author of The Big Hoodoo. It also includes a bonus twenty-minute demo game by Kevin Kulp to introduce players to the world of Ashen Stars.
The Justice Trade
When the PCs answer a distress call from the planet Cabochon, they become embroiled in the political machinations of two powerful figures who each seek to shape the future of the Bleed. Will they choose to do good and make the Bleed a better place – or to do well for themselves?
Tartarus
In a devastatingly hostile environment, hard-bitten lasers – who know enough not to touch the gooey stuff or take off their helmets in an untested biosphere – investigate the demise of a survey crew doomed by the above mistakes.
Terra Nova
The Terra Nova, last of the great luxury liners from the Combine’s heyday, is dead, a victim of disaster now drifting in the space between worlds. The last of the survivors clutch desperately to life, waiting for rescue. All but one; who waits only for a chance to finish the job, uncovering a secret which the Terra Nova has kept hidden for decades.
Stowaway
A twenty-minute demo, which is a great introduction to Ashen Stars and includes six pre-generated characters.
People who bought this also bought Accretion Disk and Dead Rock Seven.
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Apr
Apr
Some mysteries, you really don’t want to solve. If the thing at the centre of the labyrinth starts hunting you, you’ll wish you’d never started searching in the first place. Some truths are buried for a reason.
The sound of claws on metal grew louder. Something scraped at the outside of the sealed hatch.
‘This is impossible. They’re dead.’
They weren’t. We were.
Dead Rock Seven is a collection of four adventures for Ashen Stars from acclaimed writer Gareth Hanrahan (Arkham Detective Tales, Brief Cases, Invasive Procedures). Over the course of these adventures, the lasers are hired to deal with problems as diverse as murders on an old asteroid mine, missing executives on a pleasure planet, and threats to the security of an interstellar cooking contest. You can run these adventures as one-shots, as individual episodes in your own series, or in sequence as a self-contained mini-series.
- The Pleasure Bringers brings the characters to the pleasure world of Andarta, searching for a missing executive who has disappeared into the seedy underworld. In the course of their investigations, the characters discover the bizarre fate of their quarry, and must decide the fate of an entire race.
- Dead Rock Seven – Something is killing workers in an exhausted mine on asteroid SIS-45546. If the lasers’ suspicions are correct, this heralds the return of a deadly foe once thought defeated.
- Period of Tyranny – A terrorist attack on a passenger liner draws the lasers into the tumultuous politics of the synthculture of Pioneer, where the darkest period of Earth history is repeating itself.
- The Anaitis Ingredient – The lasers are hired to provide security for a high-profile cooking contest on the Anaitis-17 space station. The station is attacked from within and without by fanatic Restreamers, who intend to trigger a temporal event that will rewrite history.
Review Highlights
See the complete reviews to date here.
Dead Rock Seven again demonstrates Pelgrane’s superior skills aptitude with design by creating a truly beautiful product. It brings over some the same similar layout, font and formatting used in the Ashen Stars core book- with but with a small number of modifications. Those slight adjustments are critical as they instantly position the GM to the sequence they need for running each scenario/adventure.
If you think that a mystery adventure has to follow a fairly straight line, these cases will disabuse you of that notion. Hanrahan’s put together an excellent collection that shows off the many different kinds of missions which could be taken on in the Ashen Stars universe.
Nominated for Best Adventure in the 2012 ENnies
People who bought this also bought Accretion Disk and The Justice Trade.