OSR Review & Commentary Castles & Crusades The Hallowed Ring By Stephen Chenault For The Castles & Crusades Rpg

 "It is a hard thing to cross the plains. The land is flat and seems limitless. The wind is forever blowing. The wild grass stretches on forever, until it mingles with the pale skies. Where one begins and the other ends is anybody's guess. Tt is easy to become disoriented, lost or turned around, and fall prey to the sun, wind or any of the many creatures who stalk the flat earth."

"Somewhere on this unforgiving landscape lies the body of a man ravaged by hunting beasts. He holds in his possession an amulet, a trinket really, but one that must not be left on the plains. The body must be found, the amulet retrieved and returned to its rightful owner. But to do so one must brave the wild beasts and unforgiving nature and unearth the mystery of the grasslands."

 Castles & Crusades The Hallowed Ring By Stephen Chenault is a lower tier adventure that has the PC's starting at an inn and in search of  an amulet. This adventure starts off in an inn and pits the PC's against not only adventure's monsters but the weather itself. There's more to this adventure then a simple piece of  jewelry and more about the party's commitment to do the right thing. Clocking in at twelve pages. The Hallowed Ring picks up a first level party and brings into focus the commitment of honor and commitment. 

Castles & Crusades The Hallowed Ring is a well written, edited and solid adventure. That can act as a spring board for the PC's to jump head first into a C&C campaign. This adventure does this by presenting a solid backbone from which the basics of the  Castles & Crusades systems  are explored. And it is upon this foundation that the dungeon master can build. 
The Hallow Ring is a fun little adventure that presents the DM all he or she needs to bring the player's party into their campaign. 
The Hallowed Ring is a simple, effective, and well written adventure that shouldn't last more then a three or so sessions. It doesn't over stay it's welcome at the table top and has some solid challenges within it. 

OSR Commentary & Review On Zozer Games 43AD - Roleplaying in Roman Occupied Britain

  "43AD is a gritty military-style game with a slice of dark horror running through it. Life is grim and the world of the native Britons is painted in dark and horrific colours. Britain is a place of fear and death, terrors and torments, and the Iron-Age tribes live with these horrors. Celtic priests, the druids, contain them in lakes and pits and forests. When the legions step onto British soil, they step onto a land of ancient horrors of which they (as yet) know nothing. Life, honour and warfare amongst the tribes is explained for players and GMs alike.  

Characters are Roman soldiers, fighting for the emperor in a hostile land against the battle-hardened warriors of the tribes. This is the visible enemy, but beyond, should the Game Master wish to go there, lay the dark secrets of Britain, the night terrors, the death-bringing spirits of the wild, the night crawlers, the face eaters, the skinchangers and the rest of the monsters and wild things that infest Britain. "

Let me tell you a little story, ages ago when I was little and sitting taking in the sights of a history book on Roman Britian bigger then I was. There was a picture of Hydrian's Wall.  And I vowed that someday I would not only visit it but understand it as well as the reasons behind it. In 2006 we did just that & connected with several family members. The thing that struck me on the English side of the wall was the weight of how much history there is there. Reading through Zozer Games 43 A.D. is full on like coming home for me. The familiar history  mixed with the wyrd in 152 pages & this  is a passion project for the author/designer. The amount of detail here is incredible from skill set ups for Cepheus Engine style ancient PC's to the details in weapons, civilization, to monsters the details are bold. Highlights for me include: 

• Spells
• Monsters
• Cultural information on Romans and Britons
• Character write-ups that fit on a single index card
• 10 minute character creation

So without delay I approached Zozer Games & was promptly sent a copy of  43 A.D.  & this book is on another level. Sure there are copies of other horror themed historical rpg's sitting on my shelf.  But is on another level without a doubt. This isn't to say that  43 A.D. 

is completely overwhelming on its history or game details. Far from it, the game reads like a combination of deadly campaign, detailed rpg, & action movie waiting to happen. The combat is bloody, the system sings along in a bloody way, & this game screams to be played. The game feels like Zenobia another Paul Elliot creation where the legions of Roman meet the forces of the desert.

But  43 A.D. has the look & feel of Roman occupied  Britain with a horror film twist or two thrown in. And this is a deadly little affair of a game. The PC's are strangers in a strange land & they are far from home. And this is a cold, dangerous, lonely little world to have a PC die in. And no its not depressing but its incredibly dangerous. 

But is   43 A.D.  worth getting?! In a word yes! This is a complete unto it's game & while other books are going smaller & smaller with Cepheus Engine rpg rules.   43 A.D.  takes this notion & kicks its teeth in to give the DM & his players a complete package for six dollars! And its up to Zozer Games quality unto itself. So in a word yes   43 A.D.  is very much worth getting for three reasons, one this is a game about Roman occupied Britain done by a historian who writes history & technical books for a living. Two the maps & cartography are gorgeous! And three the setting is not one that I'd ever want to actually live in & I say this with all due respect! The idea of being in the middle of no place squared surrounded with no modern medicine, no real way home, & surrounded by people who will take your head off? No thanks but to role play in this world from the safety of your table with 2d6 system done by Zozer games absolutely! 

OSR Commentary on Baptism of Fire Rpg By Rpg Pundit

  When it comes to Baptism of Fire by The Rpg Pundit  the hard copy has been in my  hands over the weeekend. We got together today to discuss our campaign. I hammered home the fact that your PC steps outside of a city within this campaign then you are hip deep in wilderness of Poland. And this blog post picks up from here on the blog. 

 Everything in the wilderness is trying to kill your PC's and this includes many of the Fey. These Fey are completely alien to what the players might be used too. Many of the Pagans within these Poland regions are simply appeasing these spirits and Fey. This means that the Fey courts may have deep ties to the human royals within Baptism of Fire. The courier class is an essential go between the royals & the Fey. 

The Christian faith is the shield against some of more heinious monsters in the game. The priest NPC class is the boots on the ground Christian influence that is converting the Poles and others. These conversions are part of the stablility & order that the church brings to the country. This is still a long ways off. 
The pagan influence is woven throughout this campaign setting. 101 Sarmatians gives a whole cloth groups of the royal families of Poland. 
And this brings up the fact that the Christian  relics from the first era are going to be very valuable to the Poles. This is the adventure plot point of  The Pundit Files – Issue 27: The Bones of St. Florian. The wilderness plays a central point within this adventure as an adversary as much as the monsters do. This is an echo of old school Dungeons & Dragons without a doubt. The Bones of St. Florian is a great adventure to introduce the PC's many of the themes of Baptism of Fire. 

OSR Commentary The Castles & Crusades Castle Keeper's Guide Is Key To Our Clark Aston Smith's Zothique Campaign

 The Castles & Crusades Castle  Keeper's Guide  is tailor made for the dungeon master aka the Castle Keeper to design thier campaigns around the Siege Engine. The world of Zothique is perfect for the Castle Keeper's Guide to bring the resources of this book for CAS's world. 

 Zothique has a South Asian feel to it's campaign setting in our games. We've used this asthetic with C&C's boats, sea craft, etc. The Castle & Crusades Castle Keeper's Guide has a ton of material on equipment, vehicles, and gear for NPC's for sea and air adventures. This is makes this supplement a key book too use with the Amazing Adventures Chronicle Keepers Guide. There's truckfuls of material to dovetail into the DNA of a Siege Engine campaign. 

 Why? Because for Zothique allows you as the dungeon master to do any future or deadly dungeon in it's desert wastelands. The monster ecology material within the Castle Keeper's guide is perfect for Zothique. Why? Because Zothique has semi tropical, fully blown tropical, desert, wasteland, and more ecological zones for animals & monsters in the far future world millions of years in the future. 
This also includes demons, massively powerful undead, parasite monsters and worse. Zothique is a demon haunted world on every level. 

 Zothique is at the end of the world, dark magicks have returned and demons have run rampit over the globe. Lamia haunt the cracks of darkness and undead hunt the wastelands for the last vestiges of the flesh of the living. The Castle Keeper's Guide has everything we need to add another angle to the campaign. 

OSR Review & Commentary On Defiant: Native Americans in Rider For The 2d6 Rider Rpg & Cepheus Engine Rpg games

 "Honor. Survival. Resistance."

"Step into the world of the Old West like never before with Defiant: Native Americans in Rider! This in-depth supplement for the Rider Roleplaying Game brings the rich histories, cultures, and traditions of Native American nations to your tabletop."

"Explore the legacies of the Apache, Lakota, Cheyenne, Comanche, and more with detailed backgrounds and character creation options.  Master new skills, embark on warrior’s journeys, and engage in the time-honored practice of counting coup.  With expanded careers, authentic equipment, and legendary figures like Geronimo and Sitting Bull, Defiant gives you the tools to effectively add Native Americans to your Rider game!"

"Take your Rider adventures to the next level—stand your ground and shape the frontier with Defiant: Native Americans in Rider!"

Defiant: Native Americans in Rider For The 2d6 Rider Rpg is a fantastic supplement for 2d6 Old West action! This is a supplement that has no nonse approach for Native Americans in the Rider Rpg. This supplement adds tons of new skills, warriors journey in the West, tribal nation structure, history, and more. The fact is 
Defiant: Native Americans in Rider adds a whole cloth PC career option for players to bring to the Rider rpg table top arena. This brings the tragic and heroic actions of the American Indians to a Rider Rpg campaign. 

Rider is a solid Old West 2d6 rpg & brings it's resources for a DM & his players to bring the Old West campaign to life. Defiant: Native Americans in Rider adds in the other half of this equation with tons of American Indian resources for players who want a well rounded character with history, career info, and more from cradle to grave. 

This supplement has tons of famous NPC's that are a part of American West real world history and legend. These can interact with your games and player's PC's. 
Rider balances this with exciting action and systems of battle and conflict. 
This means that Defiant: Native Americans in Rider fits right into this mold.  Independence Games is known for quality and really good 2d6 Cepheus Engine games. Defiant: Native Americans in Rider is no different. It has all of the tools & systems to make sure that you have a successful Rider rpg campaign. 

OSR Review & Commentary On Amazing Adventures The Ruins of Ends Meet For The Amazing Adventures rpg Reforged By Jason Vey

 "An old town nestled beneath the comforting branches of a fold of dark oaks, elms and locust trees..."

"Few people live here anymore. Gardens that have long since returned to the wild crowd the dirt streets and paths that lead up to houses left empty too long. Birds abound, singing and calling to one another, filling the rustic old town with a joyful sound that belies the decrepit nature and ruins of all her structures. Houses, once white, with tall windows and fences are gray with age and weathered, beaten by time and decay. Somewhere a hound bays mournfully. Its voice is mournful, promising something long forgotten, much like the little town."
 
"But it’s here you were supposed to go. Here you were to meet the man in green. This old town that time seems to have forgotten."

"Ends Meet is a small town that has largely been abandoned. " ; at least that's what the outside world believes. The town is largely a backwater location someplace in the back of beyond in your Amazing Adventures Rpg Reforged campaign. This is a small town that appears in the back of the Appalachian Mountains in Arkansas in our campaign. This is the town that history forgot. Yet it remains a town with a history of secrets. 

Amazing Adventures The Ruins of Ends Meet is an adventure for any level because it's an adventure location unto itself. 
"Though most of its inhabitants did not know it, Ends Meet is a magical place. The town exists in several dimensions and parallel universes, and even in the material world, in more places than one. The motel was built where an old trading post once stood, the Cocklebur Post & Trade, which, in turn, had been built over an ancient chamber that housed a gate to other worlds" according to the adventure. We get a fully mapped out town and lots of Ends Meet town details. This is the town where urban legends dwell. Seriously, the town could be a forgotten place where the monsters dwell. But is it forgotten?! 
The portal was opened in the 1940's and the town was nevr the same again.. Amazing Adventures The Ruins of Ends Meet is set up for the DM to create & flesh out various encounter through out the town in the campaign's modern day era. The interdimensional portal is trouble right from the word go. This adventure also presents the perfect opportunity to wrangle in the Castles & Crusade's Monsters & Treasures book to be used. 

The Ruins of  Ends Meet has done a great job of setting up the town's mystery centered around the interdimensional portal. Encounters to be filled in are done in a homage to B1 In Search of the Unknown. This is done to teach the new Amazing Adventures  rpg Reforged Dungeon Master how to run these adventures. The town of Ends Meet has the potential to be a source of adventure & potentially a possible headquarters with the PC's revitalizing the town. 

Or is the town cursed by this portal which forced the town residents to flee. The portal opening up into the depths of Hell itself?! 

That's the potential of  The Ruins of Ends Meet as an adventure campaign location. And this is because the town has lots of potential to add to a Castles & Crusades campaign or as a location for Amazing Adventures Reforged rpg. 

Diving into the Arduin Underworld - OSR Commentary On Winds of Chance (Arduin Grimoire volume 8) By David A. Hargrave

  " Once again, Dave Hargrave presents a wealth of information concerning the Arduin campaign setting including the Gods of Arduin, overviews of 67 major/minor religions and detailed descriptions of the “Tri-Moon Cults”, “Brotherhood of Blood” and the “Church of HIM”!"

"Also featured are detailed biographies of Arduin’s most famous and notorious personalities including members of the infamous Black Lotus Society, Thieves & Assassins Guilds, Arduin Nobles and Major Siege Lords, Dream Weavers (a new player class) , notable personalities from the Arduin II campaign and famous Player Characters!" 

I've written about Winds of Chance (Arduin Grimoire volume 8) By David A. Hargrave before on this blog. Winds of Change is one of the most critical books on the  Arduin campaign. Why? Because of the fact that we  detailed biographies of Arduin’s most famous and notorious personalities including members of the infamous Black Lotus Society, Thieves & Assassins Guilds, Arduin Nobles and Major Siege Lords. We also we get the low down on the illegal drugs of Arduin which have ties to all of the major criminal organization described. 
We also get the low down on 'real world animals' and poisons of that these animals use. These poisons also have implications to assassinations and murders. 
These guilds and powers are intimitately connected to the royal families &  royals of Arduin. All of the above twist into the Black Lotus society & this secret organization is threaded throughout Arduin society. The point of religion which is central to the Arduin campaign setting & we get a very good overview of the gods. Religion is central to these power structures on Arduin. 
We also get two cults  on the cult of Him and 'The Brotherhood of Blood'. And the latter cult is infact one of the most dangerous and unquiet armies of undeath on Arduin. The Brotherhood of Blood is a part of the goddess of Lyrra (goddess of undeath, destruction, blood,etc.). And this cult is one of the most dangerous on Arduin! It's a soul destroying, town devouring, horror that is on the move on Arduin. The Brotherhood of Blood is also outlawed everywhere on Arduin. And yet this cult seems to be growing according to the article in 'Winds of Change'
Then we get new magic items, ritual magic, spells, & the Dreamweaver class. But the real focus of 'Winds of Change' seems to be how the underworld and criminal elments of Arduins ties together. 
And it's the lesser elements of the thieves guild and organizations that PC's are going to interact with. Arduin seems to be a campaign world where all levels of society interact with each other but the social fabric really involves the PC's social standing very much. 
Arduin seems to be a campaign world where adventure elements fold into each other. Taken as a whole this makes Arduin a very rich and well rounded campaign setting from the ground up. 

Amazing Adventures Rpg and The Warriors of the Wasteland#1 Mutants in the Moonlite Bowl-A-Rama - Session Report Two

  "In the desolate stretches of your post-apocalyptic world, the dusty and abandoned “Bowl-A-Rama” stands as an unlikely beacon of hope. Powered by a hidden, ancient energy source which has suddenly turned off, it is the last known lifeline for locals in the nearby Village of the Burning Sun. However, the building has recently been invaded by a biker gang of mutant orcs, known as “The Outriders,” led by their evil boss “Chainbreaker” who has taken some locals captive and transformed the place into his new fortress and party headquarters!"

" Because of its significance, the locals have cobbled together a brave group of survivors from the hamlet to set out to breach and reclaim it. Your challenge is to restore the power, rescue all captives, gather any valuables and destroy the evil Mutants in the Moonlite Bowl-A-Rama"
Our party secured thier camp and moved in on the remains of the Moonlite- Bowl- rama. We guaged the gang's numbers and strength. We pick right up here on the blog. 

We were deep in the wastelands with our Amazing Adventures rpg PC's for tonight's The  Warriors of the Wasteland#1 Mutants in the Moonlite Bowl-A-Rama. Our party of adventurers got into it hot and heavy with the Outriders gang around the premeter of the Moonlite Bowl-a- rama. Things went from bad to worse for the Orc biker gang and things slid down hill. 

 We crawled into the ventwork of the bowling alley. Then into the bowling alley's lounge and then snuck along the hall. The orcs had made the lounge a huge mess. Our Elven archer took out two Orc warriors and the Manhatten Mauler took out two more warriors in the back of the warehouse of the alleyworks. 

We got bogged down with four more Orc gangers in the bar. We had to take these guys out fast before they sounded the alarm to the rest of the gang! We did this with a sleep spell and then three slit throats. Next it was a straight blasting of two more gangers in the bar by Wild Bill our gunslinger. We confronted Chainbreaker with a plethora of four hand grenades that we'd been saving for taking the bastard out. And we managed very well with our rolls. The rest of the 'Outsiders' gave up! Not simply a little bit but took off with white flags flying. Next Dr. Chan got the  the Moonlite Bowl-A-Rama A.I. and broad cast power back on line restoring power to the nearby Village of the Burning Sun. We then went about training three other village elders to be in the arts of the A.I. and broadcast power unit's operation and maintence. All of this took about two months game time, 
While getting the broadcast power station back on line we intercepted a transmission from Mr. Millenium's Battle Arena! The Manhattan Mauler & party will answer the call! 

OSR Commentary On Clark Ashton Smith’s 'The Charnel God' & Castles & Crusades rpg campagning.

 "Mordiggian is the god of Zul-Bha-Sair," said the innkeeper with unctuous solemnity. "He has been the god from years that are lost to man's memory in shadow deeper than the subterranes of his black temple. There is no other god in Zul-Bha-Sair. And all who die within the walls of the city are sacred to Mordiggian. Even the kings and the optimates, at death, are delivered into the hands of his muffled priests. It is the law and the custom. A little while, and the priests will come for your bride."

"The Charnel God" is a short story by American author Clark Ashton Smith as part of his Zothique cycle, and first published in the March 1934 issue of Weird Tales." according to 'The Charnel God's wiki entry. The god of Zul-Bha-Sair, Mordiggian. Mordiggian devours all the dead in the kingdom and his reach is not to be questioned. 
This is something that my player's PC's found out while visiting the kingdom of Zul-Bha-Sair last year. In the story the young doctor braves everything to save his bride who has been taken by Mordiggan & his bronze masked and stone  faced priests. He ends up saving her our PC's were not so fortunate. They were seeking to have one of thier own resurrected & this was taken as an insult by Mordiggan's dangerous priests. "All who die in Zul-Bha-Sair are the property of Mordiggian," insisted the taverner sententiously. "Outlanders are not exempt. The dark maw of his temple yawns eternally, and no man, no child, no woman, throughout the years, has evaded its yawning. All mortal flesh must become, in due time, the provender of the god." according to the CAS story and they mean it. This reach of the priests of Mordiggan extends unto the surrounding kingdoms around Zul-Bhar-Sair. These kingdoms are riddled with man made tunnels from which the priests of Mordiggan come and go. Major spoilers ahead. 

These minor kingdoms along with Zul-Bhar-Sair border the Wastes of Celotian a trackless expanse of sand and horror only dotted with a few temples dedicated to Mordiggan himself. The area is also home to a very elaborate and well defined society of ghouls. These ghouls are former humanity who have evolved into highly intelligent beings and dangerous clerics of Mordiggan.

These priests have infilitrated every level of Zothique society within thier kingdoms. Why? Because they can keep plagues and thier economy stable all based on the feasts of the dead.  
For adventurers these kingdoms are a no go for dungeon crawling however  the Wastes of Celotian are open season. Why?! These extensive wastelands are the demon haunted home of tons of ruins and dungeons. These wastelands are also home to tones of demons, powerful undead, and even vampire lords. All of these are on the menu for Mordiggan and his priests. There may be some cooperation and treaties between these powerful forces. 
The dungeons in these areas can be prime material for dungeon masters using Castles & Crusades Engineering Dungeons & Castles. 

 The DM has full reign to create mega dungeons, full on temple complexes and more. These places are millions of years in the future and there's no holding back in Zothique. The cemetary world is perfect for those who want extensive ruins and mini dungeons run rampid. The monsters here in the wastes surrounding the Zul-Bhar-Sair border area  the Wastes of Celotian are home to major & minor demons, hybrid tribes of lamia, genii, undead, and worse. 

Meeting In Xylac - Castles & Castles rpg & The CAS Zothique Campaign- Session Report Two

 The PC's were able to get to the tomb of Ethiusu where a copy of a necromatic tome called the Books of Ethiusu which contains the secrets of time and space is held. We picked up from the last session on the blog here. The desert sands were very unkind to the adventurers when a strange strange sand storm blew up. We were using the desert survival rules from the Castles & Crusades Castle Keeper's Guide.

Clark Ashton Smith - ZOTHIQUE.(Ballantine Books 1970)

The tomb was open and surrounded by ruins of the former kingdom of Ethiusu. The tomb was open and well maintained?! The player's PC's were expecting a dungeon crawl situation. But instead were invited into the tomb by Wi'reda the priest guardian. He invited them to an early evening supper. And the player's PC's were skeptical but went along with him. And he drugged the party! So it came to pass that the party found themselves tied to several stone blocks Wi'reda was sharpening a set of sacrifical knives. Zeller the Astounding the party's thief and tomb robber got himself free and then got his brother  Zargo the Spellweaver also free who then fire balled Wi'reda in short order. Wi'reda shed his human disguise revealing himself to be a weaver demon who was bound to the tomb. Wi'reda is demon bound by his mistress  ALILA “Queen of perdition and goddess of all iniquities”. 
Wi'reda fought the party to a bit of a stand still with the group's warrior priest Nevel The Just went about giving the demon a bit of a bloody nose only to get hit with rather nasty fire ball of his own! He was dragged away by the party's cleric Thona The Hammer.  Thona stablized Nevel but he's going to need a hospital. Weiman the Walker of Deserts the party's ranger bargained with the demon for two souls in exchange for leaving the tomb after 10,000 years. The demon agreed as long as it was sooner rather then later or he would take the ranger's soul to feast on for eternity. 
We recovered   the Books of Ethiusu which contains the secrets of time and space for our client. Just as we were leaving our party was attacked by bandits!

Will the demon keep it's bargain with our party of 'heroes'?! Or will the ranger's soul be devoured?! This is of course Zothique and all magick is foul and black!

New Flesh Rpg & William Hope Hodgeson's Nightland rpg Session Report Two

 

 The PC's almost couldn't cope when the darkness creeped across the landscape and the monsters began to wake up.We lost two operatives last night as the Humpted men closed in on the player's PC's. These things were raving and sobbering humanoid horrors. This picks right up from the last session here on the blog. 
“And I saw how that the Humped Men did seem to be humpt by reason of their being so monstrous thick and mighty of the neck and the shoulder, as that they had been human bulls. And I saw that they were very strong, and by the speed of their climbing, I knew they were swift…” – Ch. 9, “The Dark Pyramid”

 The Humpted Men followed them behind the party almost getting taken and they got two of the PC's who were dragged into the darkness. The party moved on & they found that they were being tracked by an unknown force.The PC's scambled to find a volcanic tube while spraying machine gun fire everytime they heard foot falls. They found the lava tubes and checked the tubes for monsters and found one that was clear. The PC's wanted a better look at what they were up against. 
The party's psionic opened herself up to the influence of the Nightland! This was a bad idea as she was overwhelmed in the incredibly bad influences of the Dark Forces of the Nightland. The PC made her saving throw and was able to shake off these dark influences before she was possessed! 

Our adventurers are a diverse group of New Flesh rpg  party members & they are on a mission to get the technologies of the Nightland. They are facing down the evolved remains of mutant races from Interzone who are now the monsters of the Nightlands. 

Deep in the lavatube they found a ton of obsidian arrows from the bows of the Humpted men. These arrows could penatrate most modern body armor. 
The party has moved several boulders into the front of the lava tube. The party survived the night with two guards on the tube's enterance. Outside there were literally dozens of humanoid horrors. These horrors were out there until the red sun rose. The party have fed thier bio implants and then ate thier own food supplies. They were able to cycle out thier guards and they got some sleep. They heard another railed city pulling into the area. The party started toward the railed city and then were attacked by the advanced city guards. The party were shocked by the railed city guards! We ended with the party retreating. Our game ended here!

The Nightland book is a prime resource for our campaign and we're  filled in wasteland & mutant  details using The Red Room's Wretched Apocalpyse Second Edition. 

The PC's were able to send a couple of corpses and artifacts of the Humpted me back through the temporal wormhole that the party came through. The party came across a small metallic book that they sent back down the time travel stream. 

OSR Commentary On Clark Ashton Smith’s “The Black Abbot of Puthuum” & Castles & Crusades rpg campagning.

" Let the grape yield for us its purple flame, And rosy love put off its maidenhood:

"By blackening moons, in lands without a name,
We slew the Incubus and all his brood.
     -- Song of King Hoaraph's Bowmen"

 

Cover page spread of Clark Ashton Smith’s “The Black Abbot of Puthuum” as it appeared in Weird Tales March 1936.

"Zobal the archer and Cushara the pikebearer had poured many a libation to their friendship in the sanguine liquors of Yoros and the blood of the kingdom's enemies. In that long and lusty amity, broken only by such passing quarrels as concerned the division of a wine-skin or the apportioning of a wench, they had served amid the soldiery of King Hoaraph for a strenuous decade. "

 Clark Ashton Smith’s “The Black Abbot of Puthuum” is a classic yarn of Sword & Sorcery. There are a few incredible details that it classic for use in old school or Sword & Sorcery OSR play. Let's get the story's history outta of the way; "According to Emperor of Dreams: A Clark Ashton Smith Bibliography (1978) by Donald Sidney-Fryer, "The Black Abbot of Puthuum" was first published in the March 1936 issue of Weird Tales. It was included in the books Genius Loci and Other Tales (1948) and Zothique (1970)."

This blog entry picks right up from the Zothique play report on the blog here. 

 The plot is comes straight from the 'The Black Abbot of Putluum wiki entry; "In Yoros, Zobal the archer and Cushara the pike-bearer are assigned by king Hoaraph to retrieve the maiden Rubalsa from Izdrel for the king's harem. They are accompanied by the eunuch Simban." 
Spoilers ahead, first of all you've got the mysterious Black Abbot of Puthuum which in our own campaign has relocated to the capital because of the infestation of lamia and demons. You've got  Ujuk, who is an abbot for the monastery Puthuum & invites the adventurers to a feast. The Zobal the archer and Cushara the pike-bearer remain skeptical to say the least. Ujuk is the spawn of a lamia and then there's the benevolent mummy of the former monk Uldor. And at the story's conclusion the ruins of the Abbot of Puthuum are still there on Zothique. And these ruins  are  still lamia and demon haunted! Sure they disappeared but we get no confirmation that they were destoryed! 

 The Abbot of Putluum could well be a repository of ancient wisdom and occult knowledge. And this might be the deciding factor for adventurers to seek it out. 
Zothique is demon haunted and lamia are nasty. They are masters of illusion and magic. The fact that they are haunting Putluum says that there are other people living in the area. The lamia have been breeding and bringing hybrid humanoids in the area. These lamia hybrids secure others as a food source. Here's another reason for adventurers to journey to  Putluum. For the  Castles & Crusades rpg this story presents a great bridge point for an encounter with demons or lamia on Zothique. The ruins of the abbot are waiting for PC's. According to the wiki entry on 'The Black Abbot of Puthuum; "In the 1988 book Fantasy: The 100 Best Books, James Cawthorn and Michael Moorcock noted the stories "Necromancy in Naat", "The Witchcraft of Ulua", and "The Black Abbot of Puthuum" on the theme of love and lust." These themes are perfect framing an adventure using C&C's Tome of the Unclean.