1d20 Random Ancient Minor Gods and Tomb Guardians Table For Your Old School Campaigns

Ancient  sites and ruins are often guarded by bound heirloom spirits, the ghosts of ancient bound gods, demonic things  and tomb guardians brought from beyond the pale bound into the preserved flesh of undead things. These monsters are often creatures from before when the world was new and far less civilized. Often times these beings  have been brought from  before the cycles of the Earth before the waters drank Atlantis. They are very dangerous and horrid unnatural survivals of another order of life.



Often these beings will conform to the basic outline of a ghostly Hill giant or Stone giant with 1d20 minor powers or abilities. Often times these beings will be guarding minor family treasures or hoards long forgotten by their original owners. These beings might even have been driven insane by the powerful magicks that bind them to their charges.

1d20 Ancient Minor
Gods and Tomb Guardians Random Encounter Table

1. The ghost of ancient demonic wizard whose godly family was mortally wounded in the war with the god who now guards his slayer's tombs for all eternity. He is quite mad but can cast 1d8 spells per day at sixth level. 
2. A damned Lovecraftian horror tied to a nearby ancient family plague pit where gold from Hell has been stored. 
3. A conqueror warlord bound to the local god's cemetery of the damned where treasures of the gods are supposedly buried. 
4. A tomb ghost of an ancient Atlantian lady now merged with some undead horror from beyond to the graveyard of old wizards and warriors long forgotten by history. 
5. A swarm of wight like demonic things from far beyond many realities summoned to guard a former military base of the ancients. 
6. A deadly horror made up from the ghosts of long forgotten gods now merged and bound together by a secret order of necromancers long dead. 
7. A very dangerous horror created from the soul of an undead god whose worshipers have long passed into extinction brought into the world because of the sacrifice of a warrior women who gave her life to stop an invasion. 
8. A swarm of chaotic bird things made from the long extinct tribes of warriors who merged with a local horror to create the perfect guardians. They watch over the relics and treasures of the Ancients. 
9. The vengeful spirit of a long gone god thing who now haunts the tombs and ruins of his former enemies protecting relics and treasures of power that call to his spirit from beyond this reality. 
10. The undead corpses of gods and spirits whose extinct peoples have cursed them to haunt the moors and down hills of this wild place now lost to the pages of history. 
11. A pack of crazy and psychotic giant things whose purpose is long forgotten but the magical power of the place keeps them bound to it. Silver and golden weapons lay buried just below the surface. 
12. A group of bound ghostly demonic warrior women haunt the tombs and ruins here protecting the weird devices of alien origin lost in this place. 
13. A demonic horror haunts this place drawn here centuries ago and worshiped by the Ancients. It is drawn to any wizards or magic users because of their power. 
14. Howling and madness follow in the wake of this thing and its demonic power as the fury of the Ancients create it each night to guard the legacy of the ruins of this place of power. 
15. The ghost of an ancient alien warrior was drawn down from the stars by the promise of battle and glory but that was in ages past. Now only gold and misplace super science keep it here. Adventurers and worse are drawn by tales of gold but die on this alien thing's magical blade. 
16. A thousand dead brides have been merged to form the totality of this alien horror from beyond death. It seeks the eyes and hearts of the living to feast on. Dangerous and mad it is drawn to power and desperation of the living. Tales of silver artifacts and ancient crowns of gold draw in the foolish. They find only death here. 
17. Howling winds and fury mark the site of this spirit giant's haunted grave that it protects with its weird powers and mastery of wind. Able to strip a man down to the bone in seconds its said to guard a thousand treasures from beyond human desire. 
18. A dangerous spirit guards a weird and odd military base of beings long since forgotten by this world. There are treasures here for the taking if you can bypass this spirit. 
19. The world has moved on but this reptilian like ghostly giant guards a cask of dreams and treasure long forgotten by this world. It is said to be the golden heart of the Great Old One Yig. Giant snakes haunt this place during the day said to be the thing's eyes and ears. 
20. The undead spawn of Cthulhu haunts this place searching for the keys to set it free but a cult of worshipers haunts this place sacrificing sons and daughters of the local merchants and kings.
    
    

New Update For The Mystery at Port Greely Adventure For The Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea Rpg System

CHECK OUT THE The Mystery at Port Greely
Adventure KickStarter HERE 

The sword and sorcery Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea rpg adventure Kickstarter The Mystery at Port Greely has had a great update;"The time has finally come: I have finished tinkering, revising, and adjusting the manuscript for The Mystery at Port Greely. It is now in the hands of editor David Prata, who always makes my work better than it was before. As Stephen King once said: "To write is human, to edit is divine." 

Cheers,
Jeff Talanian
PS: A few days after the last update, I received the final art piece from Peter Mullen. It blew my mind, but it's such a spoiler that I can't in good conscience share it."

This is one of the the adventures that I've been watching for for a few months and can't wait till it hits the market. This is one of those adventure locations that you could add right into your own campaigns quite easily. The plot adds in another puzzle piece into the Hyperrborean world setting but it could just as easily add another exciting Lovecraftian bit into your own world. See the plot is very well constructed:"Until recently, the peculiar village of Port Greely was renowned as one of the most prolific exporters of crustaceans in the realm. Then, about three years ago, the Greely lobstermen severed all ties with outside partners. Subsequent attempts at renegotiation were shunned. More recently, a small group of Fishmongers’ Guild representatives from the City-State of Khromarium has gone missing in Port Greely, and answers have been less than forthcoming. At present, the guild seeks answers. They want to know what became of their representatives, and they wish to reestablish their lucrative partnership with the Port Greely lobstermen. Your party has been contracted to help resolve the mystery at Port Greely." 
This interior art piece brings home the ideas and weird bits of AS&SH in spades. So I can't wait see what Port Greely brings to the table.

Terror Tuesday - The Underrated & Underground Killer - The Ankheg For Old School Campaigns

One of the most underrated killers from the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons is the ankheg a
10 feet long and weigh 800 lb monstrous arthropod magical killer beast. Its one of the most underrated wilderness and rural countryside beasts. A perfect horror to send up against smaller parties of adventurers and a mostly forgotten horror from the early edition era of Dungeons and Dragons.
"The ahnkheg was created by artist Erol Otus and first appeared in Dragon magazine in 1977. " "Erol Otus originally named the creature the "anhkheg" and submitted the first artwork and writeup of it prior to joining TSR.^[3] This first version appeared in the "Creature Features" column in Dragon #5 (March 1977)."
They remain one of my all time favorite monsters to spring on parties of adventurers inside civilized areas where players think that no monsters will ever bother the local farmers and peasants.

They're description in the AD&D first edition Monster Manual gives the dungeon master everything they need to seed a nest of these insectile horrors into a mini adventure encounter;"An ankheg is described as having six legs and a many-segmented body, all covered in a brown (some closer to yellow) chitinous exoskeleton. The head has black compound eyes, mandibles capable of snapping small trees, and antennae. Usually, ankhegs do not create tunnels, and simply burrow down into the ground. However, they are able to make tunnels if they dig slowly. When seriously pressed, it can spit acid. Spitting acid is usually a last resort, as it cannot digest food for several hours afterwards. Ankhegs are around 10 feet long and weigh 800 lb"
These things click all of the right buttons for me as a dungeon master they're close to the 50's and 60's B science fiction monster movie menaces, they're great mid tier horrors and they're perfect for highlighting the fact that a wizard may have been playing with the local ecology in the remote past of the campaign world. They also make excellent cross over monsters for post apocalyptic game adventures and can cause a group of adventurers some real hurt.

A swarm of  ankheg make excellent low level sword and sorcery menaces and can make a good alien menace that up points the weirdness of a planet or setting. If you don't believe me think about the fact that these things have appeared in every edition of D&D and many of the classic video games;" Ankhegs can be found in the role-playing video games Pool of Radiance, Baldur's Gate, and Gateway to the Savage Frontier"

Ten Reasons When and Where To Use  The Ankheg


Ankheg, Monster Cards Set #1, 1982

1.   A nest of these bastards are a perfect way to guard a minor treasure or magic item found on a farm or other rural location. That golden torc that belonged to king so and so centuries back whose magic has been leaking into the ground. 
2. As a minor terror monster for a game of Lamentations of the Flame Princess when you need to orient players from AD&D into a more terror oriented mind set. 
3. The Ankheg is the perfect minor monster that a wizard can have as a nearby horror for taking out parties of adventurers in a more temperate climate. 
4. They make excellent monsters to throw into a Dark Sun, Barsoom, or wasteland encounter especially around old death lands and the like. 
5. As a really deadly menace against gnomes, hobbits, and smaller demi human races especially in dungeons where you need to take out these low down thieves. 
6. Ankhegs are also nice monsters to throw into OD&D or Holmes D&D when you need that extra menace to play merry havoc in a wilderness encounter. 
7. Aquatic versions of these creatures make excellent island hopping or pulpy adventure encounters 
8. The Ankheg is also a perfect scavenger for giant monster menaces and radioactive giant kaiju.
9.   Ankhegs  are perfect for taking out fighters ankles and snipping off limbs of adventurers. This makes them highly valuable around military bases and other target buildings. 
10. The Ankheg is mostly forgotten these days by even experienced players and they make excellent encounters for the sheer menace factor of these bug like horrors.

1d20 Under Lovecraftian Skies Random Adventure Plot Generator Encounter Table For The Alpha Blue Rpg System & Your Old School Campaigns

Sex, lust, and the dark between the stars ring with the comings and goings of space adventurers but sometimes the contrails from a space ship's engines bring with it far more then what is expected above a planet's sky.  It brings the opportunity for exploitation,horror, and worse against the dark of space.

"a frightful messenger from unformed realms of infinity beyond all Nature as we know it; from realms whose mere existence stuns the brain and numbs us with the black extra-cosmic gulfs it throws open before our frenzied eyes.”
― H.P. Lovecraft, The Colour Out of Space and others

Encounters with the horrid and dangerous entities that exist beyond the pale of our reality are often the only markers to run ins with extra dimensional entities. Adventurer's souls, existences, flesh, blood, and individuality in space time are often the very morsels that these things seek to feed on.
The dark depths of space are lonely and very dangerous a places indeed where mankind are mere strangers to much older places. There  far more ancient species have already trodden and made their mark on the stage of interstellar space. In every space dive and weird disco bar there are hybrid species who were once slaves or servants to things so alien that their mere appearance can drive a being mad. But under the glaring hot disco lights of interstellar dance clubs there are millions of deals, pieces of esoteric gossip, and snippets of adventure all centered around the remains of empires crumbled to dust over billions ago across many realities.

There are thousands of credits and blue bucks that are made each and every night under alien skies whist things older then universes wait under stars of the damned for fools to find them. Sex, lust, and flesh ripping terror do indeed make strange bed fellows.

1d30 Under Lovecraftian Skies Random Adventure Plot Generator Encounter Table

  artwork by Dominique Signoret

1.   A space craft of incredibly ancient design streaks across the sky inside is an alien princess whose appearance will spark lust and interest any male or female adventurers who find her. But its her space craft which is the real treasure because it contains a highly advanced hyperdrive system worth millions. She will paralysis and lay her eggs within any PC she can after which they will hatch and consume the soul of the host along with their flesh to interact with interstellar society. 
2. A jewel encrusted prince from the outer territories comes in to do trading and find a pleasure palace aboard Alpha Blue. He's actually an Outer God larva whose taken on the flesh of this alien prince. He's very dangerous and unpredictable going about spreading mayhem and terror. He has 1d4 alien artifacts worth a small fortune.
3.  An ancient elder god who was worshiped by an alien civilization has turned to dust long ago has turned into a demon and is now treading the flesh dens of the cosmos feeding upon the souls of those it sleeps with. It leaves a few alien coins of cursed aspect behind it and sometimes a flesh eating fetus for those who displease it. 
4. A space construction worker has become infected with Abyss imps and they've now taken over his body and are joy riding around in his missing construction space craft. They are dangerous and very psychotic; they will kill anyone they come across in amusing ways. 
5.  Mi Go cluster of soldiers is trying to gather 1d10 brains for a psychic bomb and to take a few choice specimens back to their alien hives beyond the pale. 
6.  Space fairy infected with a demonic essence is looking for other to seduce to pass along her mistress into others. She is very dangerous and will cut off bits and pieces of those who cross her. 
7. A telepathic dream thief is going across alien space in a very strange space craft. He is from the Dreamlands and is taking the 'dreaming' pieces of souls to return to his dark masters in the realms of dreams. 
8. A space hooker from Alpha Blue has become infected with a colour out of space and there is a bounty on her. However she has stolen a high performance space craft moving among interstellar worlds scouting for her young who are following on her spiked heels. 
9. An Elder Thing near humanoid construct is pursuing an alien agenda of his long dead masters against the Great Race of Yith. He will kill anyone he comes across and has 1d4 alien artifacts. 
10. A Star Vampire egg clutch has hatched on a ship and now the crew are under the domain of one of these horrors beyond the pale of space. The vampire pursues a very dangerous agenda against an alien overlord aboard Alpha Blue. 
11. A space essence belonging to a long dead horror stalks the stars and now seeks out his ancient dead masters whist consuming the souls of these lesser things around it. It is a dangerous, sad, and pathetic creature consumed by old horrid appetites especially the flesh and souls of this young universe. 
12. A weirdly designed organic craft has aboard valuable cargo worth thousands of blue bucks but a space vampire queen has a clutch of hundreds of eggs aboard as well ready to hatch bringing a cycle of death and rebirth upon the galaxy. 
13. A Great Race construct has appeared in the system its mission unknown but there is valuable cargo aboard it. 
14. A telepathic alien has been possessed by a Lovecraftian demon under the stars of the dead. The thing is seeking the soul of a shape shifting hooker aboard Alpha Blue for an unknown agenda. 
15. There is  sex starved alien entity who  is looking for its god who has been pursuing an alien dreamer aboard Alpha Blue. The alien is looking to restart his people deep in the Dreamlands. 
16. A cat from Saturn is looking to consume the souls of eight people in order to placate its ancient god thing master. This is merely the pet entity of something much more horrid and dangerous. 
17. A Shaggoth disguised as a space hooker, adventurer, and bounty hunter is on the trail of one of the PC's whom it must eat. 
18. A control rod of the spawn of Cthulhu has come into possession of a space adventurer whom it has driven mad. The fool is even now trying to awaken one of the spawn circling a nearby star. He wants several thousand credits for the rod but in actuality he will sacrifice the buyer and his party too the thing. 
19. A moon beast slaver party is offering 'used' slaves through an interstellar  front management company as well as looking for investors for expansion into local markets. They are sacrificing and enslaving the competition for use in alien experimentation 
20.  An Outer God frozen in time and space has drifted into the local system. Bits and pieces of alien technology has caused a massive gold rush effect with local adventurers who have no idea of the dangerous situation that they find themselves in.

These encounters are geared towards the Universal Exports kickstarter because I want to get a jump up on the interstellar Alpha Blue action.
It also happens be my take on the setting information that I've read on the Kickstarter page.

Two Free OSR Downloads Including The Molds & Slimes of Vilnid By Dyson Logos & Gregorius21778: 20 bookplate spirits From Kai Pütz a.k.a Gregorius21778 For Your Old School Campaigns

I've been working a heck of a lot of hours so I didn't get a chance to see this piece of OSR material that I inspired.  Kai Pütz a.k.a Gregorius21778 is someone whose work and random table work I've been keeping up with along with a number of other OSR authors. The man does very good work and I very thankful for the mention and so glad I had a hand in inspiring and getting this into the wild. Its very nicely done.

GRAB IT RIGHT HERE


"I have been following the Sword & Stitchery Blog of Eric F. for more than a year now. Every now and then Eric will post a list with random finds, encounters or other stuff for use with OSR roleplaying games (Fantasy, SciFi, Post-Apocalyptic and others). A while ago, his blog featured an article about spirits bound into bookplates, including 20 inspirational examples. Immediately, my own creativity was ignited and I started to put down my own 20 bookplate spirits and now want to share them with all of you. And I take my hat off to Eric, this was a wonderful idea of him" 
The original blog post can be found right here. But use these guardians carefully and they'll continue to cause mayhem for your parties of adventurers.


The second thing that I ran across was another perfectly dangerous and deranged adventure;"The Molds and Slimes of Vilnid" which appeared in the wonderful Narcosa book compiled by +Rafael Chandler."




 GRAB IT HERE 

There's a great copy of this adventure right over on Dyson Logos 

blog. The adventure works on a number of levels for parties and could serve as a bridge gap into Narcosa's dangerous and drug filled environs.

Review & Commentary On England Upturn'd By Barry Blatt For The Lamentations of the Flame Princess RPG System

Blood, thunder, violence, and the nastiness of war explodes across the page as we look into England Upturn'd by Barry Blatt From  Lamentations of the Flame Princess.

"The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists over, principally, the manner of its government." According to the internet and the combatants were simply the  Cavalier, & Roundheads 

But like many events in history the reality is far more complex especially with your party of adventurers caught right in the cross hairs of history with a dark and dangerous Lamentations twist to the whole affair. 

 GRAB IT RIGHT HERE

This was one of the most dangerous periods in English history and one that hasn't been tackled by too many old school retroclone systems. Like many other Lamentations of the Flame Princess products this is not simply another adventure; here's the thing about Lamentations products on the surface they can appear to be simple adventures when in fact there is a bit more meat on the beast's bones. In this case it's a bloody and quite complex beast of an adventure with the PC's taking part in the back scenes of the events of history & legend. Barry Blatt does an exceptional job created a campaign kit as well as an adventure based around the events of the English Civil War.
 Because this is a Lamentations product the political & religions factions of history are tackled head on. These powers and factions are central to the plot of England Up Turn'd as are the supernatural and occult elements of the adventure. This adventure takes the events of history and twists them through the lens of  the Lamentations system in such a way as to be both workable and unique in its approaches to the events of history.
According to the author; "While the Civil War changed little in itself, it
marked out the issues that the Glorious Revolution   of 1688 eventually resolved. The waves
of emigration immediately preceding, during, and after it exported those same issues to the
American colonies, which had a few rebellions and riots of their own at this time. Lamentations of the Flame Princess does the Early Modern period well enough already, but in the appendices you will find optional  setting specific rules to give an English Civil War game a bit more flavour should the Referee
wish to expand on this adventure and run a full blown Civil War campaign. Needless to say the author is not a historian and various small liberties have been taken
with the facts in the interests of fun and not boring the arse off’ the reader with too much
tedious historical exposition. This adventure features real locations in Lincolnshire and refers to real people alive at the time; my fictional depictions are just that - fictional, no offense is meant, and hopefully none will
be taken. This adventure owes an obvious debt to the film A Field in England directed by Ben Wheatley, what with the alchemy, the buried treasure, mud, and hallucinogenic ending. If you haven’t seen it, do so."



When it comes to the material the author borrows heavily from history and pop culture while giving the whole affair a Gothic horror and occult spin.A spin that could have the PC ending up in one of the many mass graves scattered across the sea of history of England Upturn'd.
The material pulls deeply from the alternative occult legends and mythologies of England whist vexing the PC's deep into the plot it does indeed remind me of  the film "A Field In England".

Much of the material is both real world and alternative roles in history of the PC's in the adventure set against the events of the English Civil War and it does it very well. The adventure takes great advantage of the usual tropes of OD&D's magic system and spins them into a different occult direction to great effect. But is it worth the download?
Well yes it is and in fact its a damn fine product and here are some of the reasons why :

• The England Upturn'd product is a major turning point for the Lamentations line in my opinion it lays out a sprawling LoFP campaign option for the DM. 
• There are literally several adventures tucked into one book Russian doll style. The adventures are linked via the plot line and have a thread of adventure, blood shed, & politics running through them. 
• These are quite nicely the age of rebellion in English history with the War of the Roses being a close second in terms of adventure opportunity for a Lamentations style game. 
• The occult is quite central to the adventures and much of the material revolves around the axis of the first half of the English Civil War. There are plot and adventure hooks that are scattered throughout the text to move things towards the next end of history. 

Magical treasures and occult items in England Upturn'd are very in keeping with the times and circumstances of the history of the era. An example of this are as follows; Crocodile boots—made in Amsterdam by a
cobbler with access to exotic Egyptian wares, these fashionable riding boots grant +1 Armour,
and once a day can be commanded with the words ‘Ik denk dat ik moet vertrekken’ (‘I
think I should leave’ in Dutch), to allow the wearer to walk on water for a minute."  Its all of the little touches that add up to creating a veneer of weirdness and pulpy strangeness in England Upturn'd that makes this adventure campaign so damn fun to read. It also makes me want to run this adventure and this is the book where factions, weirdness, and history all collide in a more then dangerous mix of the supernatural and adventure. Parties of adventurers are going to hard pressed to not get dragged into the politic of the history of England Upturn'd.


Oliver Cromwell

Note that even though England Up Turn'd is steeped in real world history the myths, legends, and mythologies of England the classic literature of Europe is in evidence throughout the adventure source book. I'm sure that some folks might compare England Upturn'd to Dark Albion because of the historical aspects of these product but they are very different animals. England Upturn'd is set in  the real world history of the English Civil War with fantastical and occult elements thrown in. Whist  Dark Albion takes a much different approach by creating an entire world setting around its own version of the  historical events of the War of The Roses even though that book follows the War's events exactly.
England Upturn'd is a party's chance to make their own mark within the campaign world and make it well if they are very lucky and play their cards right. There are lots of opportunities for the forces in this book to quite nicely kill off a party. Between the moments of violence and horrors of the events of England Upturn'd there is a solidly done book with lots of well written bits that will keep a party busy for months and months of play.

Do I think its worth your time and money? In a word yes in spades, this a well written and dangerously devilish designed & will provide a well set piece of weird horror adventure for both Lamentations of the Flame Princess DM's and players. Five out of five for England Upturn'd.

The law locks up the man or woman
Who steals the goose off the common
But leaves the greater villain loose
Who steals the common from the goose.

The law demands that we atone
When we take things we do not own
But leaves the lords and ladies fine
Who takes things that are yours and mine.
The poor and wretched don’t escape
If they conspire the law to break;
This must be so but they endure
Those who conspire to make the law.

The law locks up the man or woman
Who steals the goose from off the common
And geese will still a common lack
Till they go and steal it back.

‘Protest Ballad, Anon. circa 1635’

Dave Sutherland III Thursday Appreciation

David C. Sutherland III (April 4, 1949 – June 6, 2005)  was and is for me one of the most iconic and understated early artists of  TSR and D&D. His fantasy art work has an honesty to me that that really echoes back to the early days of the hobby. Mr.Sutherland's work today seems to have a place of nostalgia among my circles of friends and players.
Iconic pieces of artwork such as this one from  B1: Journey into the wilds in search of adventure by David Sutherland tells a story of a beginning party.


The same party much later on in their adventuring careers encountering a a mezzodaemon and nycadaemon for the first time. (David Sutherland from AD&D module D3: Vault of the Drow, TSR, 1978.)


His artwork for me had me staring at the pages of OD&D and AD&D products for hours conjuring up all sorts of adventures of the party in my head.


"A Fire Giant and his Faithful Hell Hounds" by David C. Sutherland III - from Perpetual Role blog

His work on Empire of the Petal Throne and Metamorphosis Alpha 1st edition were key in my getting into science fiction. I came across these Empire pieces on the Tome of Treasures website last night. I forgot how awesome they are.






Last night I read up on Mr. Sutherland III and to a certain extent some of the wiki entry broke my heart;"

Sutherland's involvement in game art began in 1974. After meeting Michael Mornard, a player in Gary Gygax' "Greyhawk" and then Dave Arneson's "Blackmoor" in the SCA, he was introduced to Professor M.A.R. Barker at the University of Minnesota in 1975. Barker was designing Tékumel, an imaginary world for use with D&D, published by TSR, Inc., the Wisconsin-based company that became the dominant publisher of role-playing games.

The professor put him in touch with TSR,^[2] and soon after, Sutherland was working for TSR.^[when?] Sutherland worked with the D&D game's co-inventor, Gary Gygax, as part of a team of illustrators, including Erol Otus, Darlene Pekul, David Trampier, and others.^[2] Sutherland also worked as TSR's artistic director, but preferred working on his own illustrations.^[2] He worked at TSR until 1997 when the company was in the process of being purchased by Wizards of the Coast and he was not offered further employment.^[2]

After his relationship with TSR ended, Sutherland found it difficult to find work and, according to friends, felt abandoned by the gaming industry.^{[citation needed]} Recently divorced,^[when?] Sutherland remained upset about the dissolution of his marriage,^[2] became despondent and his health began to fail.^{[citation needed]} An auction of Sutherland memorabilia—including artwork, miniature sculptures, games, and game memorabilia—was held in 2004, raising USD$22,000, used to set up a trust fund for his two daughters.^[2]

He died of chronic liver failure on June 6, 2005 in his home in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan" 

Had he lived to see 2016 I think that many folks in the OSR and gaming in general would come to acknowledge not only his artwork but his contribution to the gaming industry especially those of us who grew up with his iconic images. Recently I've been coming back again and again to the Swords and Spells OD&D book. The iconic artwork really speaks volumes to me as a DM sort of demanding that I craft an adventure around it. His pig faced orcs are the standard for me as a dungeon master.



There is something very iconic and nasty about his orcs and humanoids that until much later in life I've come to appreciate as both a dungeon master and a D&D fan.



I end this post with one of my favorite monsters from the Monster Manual, the Sutherland Naga a very underutilized of the dungeon and ruins in my humble opinion.