Under a Hostile Sun Vs The NASA RPG

Well folks. NASA now officially has an RPG (paid with your taxpayers dollars). On the one hand, I am very happy to see RPGs used for an educational purposes. On the other there is a subtext to the RPG that reflects our culture’s disordered view of science. It also offers an opportunity to compare and […]

Hostile Sun Dev Log 1

Under a Hostile Sun Dev Log 1: Environmental Encounters Hello All! I am starting a Dev Log on Rumble (not YouTube, because I am fairly disgusted with Google and Gemini at the moment) where I go through different aspects of the game. This first Log discusses the basics of designing an Environmental Encounter. If you […]

Hostile Sun: Example of Play

Basic Play Explore Under a Hostile Sun on Itch.io GM: As you leave the life support bubble, you see several of the settlers raising their hands, as a blessing from the Immutable, towards you. You are their last hope for clean water. Buzz: So, something has been adding a new contaminant, breaking the colonies only […]

Character Creation: Hallowed Hunter

Another playtest of Under a Hostile Sun is coming up! And that meant a new set of players got to make their own characters. Here is an example of the process. One player wanted to make a Hallowed Hunter named Rodger Greaves. Step 1: Picking Stats For this game session we are using Hostile Sun’s Standard Array. Since […]

The Resources of Alchemy

Key to Fueled by a Hostile Sun Games is Alchemy. At the advice of a graphic design friend, I am going to be experimenting with more simple icons, than the current 4-color graphics. Molten Minerals – the most explosive resource, needs to be mined with advanced technology. Used to provide energy and heat to potions. A resource […]

Kindness for the Dead

Under a Hostile Sun now has a Halloween Visual Novel! Hades VII is a newly discovered planet that was recently rocked by tragedy. When a supposed ghost starts to terrorize the community (and the local wildlife) it’s up to you to solve a mystery that threatens to tear the community apart! Will the community find […]

Now on PublicSq

Exciting news – are you fed up with the policies of corporate America? Want to find other alternatives, with a patriotic streak? Well PublicSq can help you with that, and Martian Muckraker Publishing is now listed on PublicSq! Go check them out Engines Down! Engines Down! is an adventure where the players have to help […]

Playtest Log: Building Uhtred

Just taught a good friend of mine how to build a character for Under a Hostile Sun. Will write out the creative process we went through, to show by example how it goes. Picking an Archtype There are six archetypes in Under a Hostile Sun. Having enjoyed summoners in other games, the Beast Rider stuck […]

Travel Advisory

The Martian Ministry of Interplanetary Travel (MMIT) has given a travel warning greatly discouraging travel to the Earthling region known as North America. It regularly gives these travel warnings to fulfill its duties under the Universal Flying Ordinance (UFO). “Available reports indicate that the Earthlings are planing to set large amounts of explosives on fire. […]

An Alchemist’s Dilemma

Part of what makes Alchemy, alchemy in my mind is the combining of different ingredients. This creates a dilemma for a rules-lite RPG system. Players aren’t going to want to learn an overly complicated system for, say, a one-shot. But if the system is too simple, well it won’t feel like alchemy anymore. Different elements […]