OSR Commentary On Ben Laurence's Through Ultan's Door issue #3 Kickstarter & Setting Zine For Old School Dungeons & Dragons & OSR Retroclone Systems

"This lovingly crafted zine takes you through Ultan's door into a world beyond the veil of sleep. Inspired by the dreamer's tales of Lord Dunsany & H.P. Lovecraft, and the lush weirdness of Clark Ashton Smith & William Hope Hodgson, Through Ultan's Door presents a vivid setting that can be run as a campaign or inserted episodically into existing games. Lavishly illustrated, and printed locally in Chicago on the highest quality French Paper Co. paper, with detachable covers that serve as maps, and separate encounter cards, the zine is a beautiful artifact designed for ease of use at the table."

 So its eleven forty eight at night & it's only now that I've gotten my car free from Storm Cooper. So game has been called for tonight but a mix around in schedules allows us to pick up on Wednesday. Lots of other stuff has been happening namely that Ben Laurence OSR dungeon & setting fanzine has just broken the $19,024 kickstarter point. 

Luckly enough I got in on the first two issues of Through Ultan's Door issues #1 & #2 respectively. These are pure OSR dream & dread goodness on par with some of Edgar Allen Poe's work combined with a good dose of B/X Dungeons & Dragons goodness. But would I run it with B/X or an OSR system?! Hmm having looked into a number of OSR systems I'd say that Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea rpg is in rotation. The reason for this is simple really. AS&SH has the Swords & Sorcery chops & it also has the alien tone mixed wth old school strangeness to handle Through Ultan's Door's dream like setting. You've got built in Lovcraftian monsters, dreamlike Dunsanian setting qualities, and a full on world of Hyperborea that could border the world of dreams. 

My second choice would be Castles & Crusades Seige Engine, the reason for this is simple. The range of monsters for one within C&C plus the optional mythological books by Brian Young bring everything into sharp focus for the dreamy land scapes & dangerous aspects of Through Ultan's Door's. 

C&C has the chops to handle the strangeness of Through Ultan's Door.  And its the overwhelming weirdness of the adventures, dungeons, & setting of each issue of Through Ultan's Door that jams this home to me. 

Don't believe me?! Check out what my friend J.Garrison had to say about the previous issues; ""Go buy this zine. Really. Just go buy a copy. Reading it is a far better use of your time than reading the reviews that talk about it. Buy it, read it, use it, or collect it; whatever you decide to do with it, this is great stuff."

—J. Garrison, Hereticwerks"