Hellsquad: fend off the crustacean menace from space and protect the free market in a new free OSR

A free TTRPG inspired by Starship Troopers and Helldivers puts you in the shoes of clone soldiers against an existential threat to humanity (and stock prices).

Hellsquad: fend off the crustacean menace from space and protect the free market in a new free OSR
This is a community submitted press release.
You are the greatest hero the world has ever seen. Sort of. To be precise, you are the mass-produced clone of the greatest hero the world has ever seen. You might not be exactly on his level —he made more in his life than you can imagine— but do you know what you're great at? One-liners. And spectacular deaths. Accompanied by other clones, aided by a board of geriatric white businessmen with token executives sprinkled here and there, and advised by a retail-grade algorithm disguised as an AI, you will fight against Alphakyllers™, a breed of violent conquerors from deep space. It will also be the livestream sensation of the century, which is always good for ad revenue and brand recognition.

Hellsquad is a thrilling, fast-paced game that uses OSR principles to tell a story about ordinary foot soldiers cloned from a mythical war hero fighting an impossibly large alien threat.

The cover of the "Hellsquad" corebook that features a soldier in a heroic pose. Below the soldier's the severed head of a shrimp-like creature with green eyes and red, fleshy skin. The title "HELLSQUAD" is prominently displayed in large, bold, pink letters at the top right. Below the title, the tagline "CLONE! DROP! REPEAT!" is written in bold, pink letters. In the bottom right corner, the label' logo, "ODDPLAN," is shown with a small, quirky lightbulb icon and the tagline "no one expected that."
The cover of the game. Yes, we like these particular colours for reasons that are our own.

Your mission? To land with your squad on a hostile planet, locate your targets, and accomplish your objective before a swarm of giant, aggressive crab-like monstrosities shatter your dreams of victory.

A Spread with a illustration of a Hellsquad fighting off aliens.
Old School, weird, brutal. Also print-friendly!

Hellsquad is a thrilling, fast-paced game that uses OSR principles to tell a story about ordinary foot soldiers cloned from a mythical war hero fighting an impossibly large alien threat. 

Your mission? To land with your squad on a hostile planet, locate your targets, and accomplish your objective before a swarm of giant, aggressive crab-like monstrosities shatter your dreams of victory.

The illustration of a giant Demonic Crab called "Archon Crab" from Hellsquad TTRPG Game By Oddplan
Don't boil it. Not edible.

Do you have some hours to spare with your friends before your next high-concept, five-dimensional TTRPG Campaign? Hellsquad is designed for one-shots and conventions, with streamlined character creation and a quick setup for GMs. Drop, fight, extract. It's as simple as that.

Hellsquad uses Blood Engine for its core rules, an even more lethal interpretation of the OSR experience that makes you kill monsters fast and die even faster. While inspired by games like Mausritter and MÖRK Borg, Blood Engine uses a tag system for items, feats, and monsters for a more modern and dynamic approach to personalization.

Page spread with two monsters: Helltrains and Devilhands
Your next BFFs.

Hellsquad is a digital book that includes everything you need to play. It launches with two complete missions as bonus content.

  1. The Rules of Hellsquad: learn how to roll dice responsibly and die anyway.
  2. Player Characters: create your own Hank in quick, brutal steps.
  3. Scenarios: build missions in minutes with no respect for PCs safety.
  4. Alphakyllers: get to know your friendly intergalactic terror from outer space. 
  5. Mission Scenario 1—Save the L0-LL0: recover the blueprints of an experimental helper drone while fending off quite disgusting mutants.
  6. Mission Scenario 2—Alphakyllerlypse Now: Reactivate the communication beacons on a murderous planet, save civilians and possibly yourself.

Hellsquad is the free product of the month for Substack subscribers of Oddplan! from July 20th. The subscription to the newsletter has no cost. You can also download it from itch.io and DriveThruRPG with a Pay What You Want model from July 27th.