I've had the hardback of Crypts & Things for several months now & I've played the hell out of the system. This is basically Swords & Wizardry Sword & Sorcery style with bits of a Marvel & DC comic as the background of the game. There's all sorts of Howardian & Lovecraftian goodness thrown in there.
That's Crypts & Things so if you can't handle that leave now.
Still with us? Good the plot goes something like this :
Under a land shrouded in volcanic ash punctuated by rocky spires that tear at the sky they say the Great Dragon sleeps. Tyanos the Black, Trickster god of the long dead Hu-Pi people stole their blood and bottled it for his insane delight. As drink of the gods it confers immortality to mortal man, but at what terrible price? The very quest for this elixir is insane. A trip into a harsh and unforgiving land of the Spires, a poor and bandit ridden weird land, inhabited by the likes of Black Joop, Nigus the Headless and the Mother of Hydra. Names that should send a shiver down your spine. So pick up your sword, down the last of your ale to steady any nerves and stride off towards a great adventure amongst the rocks that defy the sky.”
Blood of the Dragon is 25 pages of bad road for the PCs this is essentially the Keep of The Borderlands for Crypts & Things. The encounters are precise, tight, & well thought out. The characters aren't going to be bored unless the DM does something to bog down the adventure.
There is is enough in this adventure that a clever Dm can flesh out so much more like the beginning of a complete campaign other elements include the following :
That's Crypts & Things so if you can't handle that leave now.
Still with us? Good the plot goes something like this :
Under a land shrouded in volcanic ash punctuated by rocky spires that tear at the sky they say the Great Dragon sleeps. Tyanos the Black, Trickster god of the long dead Hu-Pi people stole their blood and bottled it for his insane delight. As drink of the gods it confers immortality to mortal man, but at what terrible price? The very quest for this elixir is insane. A trip into a harsh and unforgiving land of the Spires, a poor and bandit ridden weird land, inhabited by the likes of Black Joop, Nigus the Headless and the Mother of Hydra. Names that should send a shiver down your spine. So pick up your sword, down the last of your ale to steady any nerves and stride off towards a great adventure amongst the rocks that defy the sky.”
Blood of the Dragon is 25 pages of bad road for the PCs this is essentially the Keep of The Borderlands for Crypts & Things. The encounters are precise, tight, & well thought out. The characters aren't going to be bored unless the DM does something to bog down the adventure.
There is is enough in this adventure that a clever Dm can flesh out so much more like the beginning of a complete campaign other elements include the following :
Blood of the Dragon is a short introductory adventure set in the ancient and ruined lands of The Spires.
- A Rough Guide to the Spires
- Adventure: The Lair of the Battle Apes
- New Monsters – The fearsome Battle Apes.
The spires are the sort of place where a multitude of things could go wrong for the PCs. The place is rife with possibilities if a DM is willing to place a cult, monster lair or 40 in them, a great place to set the PCs up with
BATTLE APES! The battle apes here are fleshed out with both a lair & stats that make this a very cool adventure. I can see using these bastards in a multitude of things & because its a variant of Swords & Wizardry its a snap. Conversion into other OSR system is easy.. MUHAHAHA yes I have uses for these pretties. In closing Blood of Dragon succeeds on two fronts as an adventure & as another tool kit for the clever DM to use. The price is right & the adventure awaits in the Spires!
Blood Of The Dragon is available from D101 Games right Here
I've been looking forward to this coming out.
ReplyDeleteAre their rules for Battle Ape PC's?
Nope just write ups for the various Battle Ape types which we've seen someplace before. There are guidelines out there for playing monsters as race in Swords & Wizardry which should work just fine. The Battle Apes are similar(read the same with the serial numbers filed off) to a certain movie from 1968. But if your going to use them in a post apocalyptic game then I'd go with the later sequel.
ReplyDeleteShort answer is no but com'n this is Conan + World Of The Battle Apes! These guys are going into my Carcosa game tonight!
Gotcha,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info! : )
Nice one Eric :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for taking the time to do the review.
Thanks for creating a fantastic game like Crypts & Things Newt,I've had a blast with the game man! Can't wait to see what else is in the works for the game!
ReplyDelete