OSR Review & Commentary On Oh My Lost Darklords By Kabuki Kaiser For Old School Essentials & B/X D&D style OSR Game Systems

 "This is the 1980s, not Hellfire Club, but close enough. C. plays Sadric, his avenger modelled after Elric, the one who wields Blackrazor since we went under a certain white-crested mountain and Y. plays his unstoppable Duellist. I am going with Kurtys Flameblade, my Fighter/Assassin, long before That Time He Was Reincarnated as an Ogre Mage.

A Collection of Thirteen Infamous Classes

for Amoral, Chaotic, and Evil Player Characters"

What is Oh My Lost Darklords? According to the deep introduction into the book; "This manual is a collection of longgone infamous character classes meant for chaotic campaigns where the player characters feature as anti-heroes and even villains rather than guardians. Out of the thirteen classes presented here, a grand total of five allow for neutral characters, and none of them for Lawful ones bar rare exceptions allowed at the referee’s discretion"  And it plugs into the classic versions of B/X versions of the world's most popular fantasy game.  Oh My Lost Darklords  highlights the evil optional PC's. 'Oh My Lost Darklords' plugs right into the original OSE rpg & OSE Advanced  rpg system. 
We get new player characters such as the Avenger, Cultist,Bandit,Bounty Hunter, Dark Mage, Death Knight, Demonist, Witch, Houri, Jester, Red Wizard,  Duelist, & Dark Creeper!  And   Oh My Lost Darklords  is well laid out, solid artwork throughout and brings the hotness for B/X. 

B/X gets the perfect upgrade in the form of  'Oh My Lost Darklords' & hits on several levels. We get variations on the familar PC's and hits the optional villain NPC classes button.  Veteran readers of old Dragon magazine issues will recognize these PC classes but they've been updated for OSE essentially. 
These classes also give the players options for a wide range of PC options at the table top levels.   Oh My Lost Darklords works as a fantastic supplement for OSE. It breaks down these classes & is a solid ulitity piece for B/X! 

"Seas of Chaos Nightmares of Evil " Sword & Sorcery OSR Thoughts On "X7: "The War Rafts of Kron" (1984), by Bruce Nesmith, With Michael Moorcock, Lamentations of the Flame Princess rpg, & More

 "The lerendi princess, Corinna, has disappeared.

She set sail aboard a ship of the Minrothad Guilds - the guilds whose ships have been pirated and plundered for many weeks. Trade is horribly disrupted as many ships leave, never to be seen again. The guild masters now call for adventurers of great skill and renown. They offer small fortunes to any who can help them discover who is pirating their ships. But most importantly, to any who can rescue the princess."


"Can you and your party of adventurers defeat the dangers that lurk in the dark depths of a terrifying sea? Or will you find a watery grave within the cold confines of a murky sea floor?" 

Eighty four was a pivitol year for Sword & Sorcery fiction & it was a pivotal year for the 'X' adventures for B/X Dungeons & Dragons. X7: "The War Rafts of Kron" (1984), by Bruce Nesmith is one of the more well done but stranger adventures for Dungeons & Dragons. Its history is tied into classic TSR;  "X7: "The War Rafts of Kron" (1984), by Bruce Nesmith, is the seventh adventure in the Expert Series for Basic D&D. It was published in 1984, perhaps toward the middle of the year since it was the second of three "X" adventures that year."  What makes X7 perfect Sword & Sorcery campaign fodder!? Two things one is the fact that this adventure is plugged into underwater adventuring completely & two X7 is perfect to piggy back unto the back of the iconic X1 Isle of Dread. 

X7 gives a solid underwater  background on the seas of dread along with the adventure locations the Triton city of Suthus, the raft city of Kron, and the ruined city of Colhador. There were hints about all of this within , X6: "Quagmire!" (1984), the predacessor module to X7. But X7 draws down far more information about the underwater adventure landscape. This can be put to use with elemental rulers & the planar nature of the elemental plane of Water that holds the seas of Dread. All of this is hinted at within the dying civilization we found in X6: "Quagmire!". 

And if any of this sounds familiar imagine for a moment that Michael Moorcock's Elric mythos King Straasha might in point of fact be one of the royals  from the Elemental plane of water that trapped the island. What if the Kopru were created & weaponized by Pyaray, the Tentacled Whisperer of Impossible Secrets. Imagine for a moment that the Isle of Dread is a huge playing piece in the games between Law & Chaos that's been removed from the planar board. The adventure locations the Triton city of Suthus, the raft city of Kron, and the ruined city of Colhador all bore witness to all of these events. The Fey citizens of these places know the ancient wars & struggle to keep any outsiders from disturbing the ruins. There are still wizards who know of these events from Pyaray. This is true especially of veteran sailors, natives of remote islands, and some aquatic races were the most knowledgeable about kopru. The Kopru themselves often teach outsiders some of their mind controlling ways for terrifying prices. There's a strong connection between Demogorgon & Pyaray via the Kopru race. 

And the connection between Pyaray, the Tentacled Whisperer of Impossible Secrets & the ancient mind wizards the  Aboleths through the Kopru is obvious. An in fact stated within unofficial sources according to the Forgotten Realms Wiki; " As worshipers of Demogorgon, these creatures often had demonic allies.^[5] And being an aquatic race that mentally dominated others and whose civilization had fallen, there were strong ties of kinship between kopru and aboleths.^[13] " 

Where might this whole thing take place?! Possibly on the same Proto Mystara campaign location we've seen here. This proto Mystara location could be the the same battle ground that's been covered with Qelong. But we've seen battles between elemental royalty & the lords of Chaos before in the Michael Moorcock Elric tribute paper back Tales of the White Wolf. 

 X7: "The War Rafts of Kron" (1984), by Bruce Nesmith's inner underwater adventure mechanisms might hold vital ruins & wreckage from the wars between Chaos & Law. Ruins that the tritons & sea elves seen in this adventure may be keen to keep away from the prying eyes of adventurers. These islands might be part of the battle grounds of  fallen patheons of god that we see  in Lamentations of the Flame Princess's Islands of the Unknown by Geoffrey McKinney. 

What does all of this mean?! It means that the wars between Law & Chaos are beyond mere good & evil. It means that that we are both levers & fulcrums in conflicts that we don't understand. And the powers behind the events of "X7: "The War Rafts of Kron" (1984), by Bruce Nesmith, could have far more reaching consquences then even the adventurers understand..

Snow, Appendix N With Clark Ashton Smith & Castanamir - OSR Commentary - C3 The Lost Island of Castanamir By Ken Rolston

"It is terribly cold. You swam for your life to this mysterious island, losing most of your provisions in the process, only to find it barren of all but grass. A biting wind from the north drives through your wet clothes, chilling you to the bone. Night is falling and promises even colder temperatures; you wish this place had even a bush to burn as firewood. Your stomach has just begun to complain about the lack of dinner, when one of your companions calls, and you rush o his side, hoping he's found a way to turn grass into a sandwich. Instead, he points to the ground in front of him. "Look there." 

Set in a shallow depression in the ground is a stone door. Your friend reaches down and gives a tug, and the door swings slowly open on creaking hinges, revealing a descending stair. The first thought that crosses your mind in whether it would be better to freeze to death up here in the wind or fall into the hands of Castanamir the Mad, the unpredictable. "

C3 The Lost Island of Castanamir is one of the competition modules by Ken Rolston. The module is a solid one that was at the time of its release very well put together. Originally this was one of the C series of competition modules & way ahead of its time.  "The Lost Island of Castanamir was written by Ken Rolston, with art by Jeff Easley, and was published by TSR in 1984 as a 32-page booklet with an outer folder"

What makes it one of the better competition modules? Well a factor is the exclusion of the point system according to its Drivethrurpg entry; "C3 marks a change from the earlier competition adventures. It doesn't have visual handouts, and its scoring is much more subjective - no longer including specific points for specific actions as C1 and C2 did.".  The other thing is the fact that this module plugs into the old school/ OSR gonzo nature of dungeon crawling; ""Lost Island" is a classic tournament dungeon crawl, full of wacky teleporters and other strangeness. It also includes science fantasy elements like robots (iron men) and refrigerators."  But don't think that this is simply a 'fun house' module there's a lot going on here that the DM can plug into his or her own campaign. 


With the  demi god/ super hero game campaign I've been asked to include this module's location  because its extra planar nature;

"In this scenario, the adventurers pass through magical portals into a series of interlinked chambers.^[2]

The characters are encouraged by a young scholarly mage to voyage into the Sea of Pastures, to explore a mysterious island connected with a number of recent shipwrecks and disappearances. The island is grassy and windblasted, but eventually the characters discover a stone door leading into a subterranean complex. There, they discover 18 rooms linked by secret passages and magical portals. Most of these rooms have been ransacked by a variety of other survivors, human and monstrous. These survivors are likewise trapped within the labyrinth and are either eking out a miserable existence there or else desperately searching for a means of escape.

Also within the building are a number of extraplanar creatures, collectively known as gingwatzim, who can shift between various forms: an energy form (glowing ball of light), an inanimate form (usually a magical weapon), and an animate form (an animal or monster). Eventually the characters may find the exit, and are once again deposited on the dreary islands to await rescue."

Wizards are always a risky factor for a campaign. One of the adventure campaign factors of both fantasy fiction & Dungeons & Dragons is the insanity of wizards. This is especially true of the high level ones! C3 The Lost Island of Castanamir by Ken Rolston bares this out. The fact is that the past of the island bares this out. In fact many elements here bare a striking resemblance to the "The Maze of Maal Dweb" by  Clark Ashton Smith. CAS's  Xiccarph cycle had a definite effect on Robert Kuntz's campaign & adventure work as well. 


So what does this have to do with C3 The Lost Island of Castanamir By Ken Rolston & high level campaigns? After all this is only a first level module for characters levels one through four? The key here is the review by Chris Hunter;
"Chris Hunter reviewed the module in Imagine magazine, giving it a mixed review.^[1] He wrote that, as a competition module, it is "so tough that not everyone survives" and thus when used with regular characters Hunter suggested the use of higher level characters.^[1] He described the module as disjointed and difficult to DM, as many encounters were not fully thought through by the designers. As this module introduces an "interesting class of creatures", it could also have major long-term consequences for a campaign.^[1] According to Hunter, C3 is "good buy" for those looking for a competition module.^[1] However, he did not recommend it for an ongoing campaign" 

So C3 could have long term consequences on a campaign hmm? I'm a sucker for competition modules & if we look a wee bit deeper into  the all powerful sorcerer Maal Dweb's works then we see that he's gone up against a wide variety of heroes, pulp heroes, etc.  This is especially true in CAS's Maze of the Enchanter;

" At length he came to a lampless, column-crowded portico; and, gliding silently as a jungle snake, he entered the mysterious house of Maal Dweb. A door stood open behind the dark pillars; and beyond the door he discerned the dim reaches of an empty hall.

Tiglari went in with redoubled caution, and began to follow the arrased wall. The place was full of unknown perfumes, languorous and somnolent: a subtle reek as of censers in hidden alcoves of love. He did not like the perfumes; and the silence troubled him more and more. It seemed to him that the darkness was thick with unheard breathings, was alive with invisible movements.

Slowly, like the opening of great yellow eyes, yellow, flames arose in lamps of copper along the hall. Tiglari hid himself behind an arras; and peering forth presently, he saw that the hall was still deserted. Finally he dared to resume his progress. All around him the rich hangings, broidered with purple men and blue women on a field of blood, appeared to stir with uneasy life in a wind he could not feel. But there was no sign of the presence of Maal Dweb or his metal servitors and human odalisques.

The doors on either side of the hall, with cunningly mated valves of ebony and ivory, were all closed. At the far end Tiglari saw a thin rift of light in a somber double arras. Parting the arras very slowly, he peered through into a huge brilliantly lit chamber that seemed to be the harem of Maal Dweb, peopled with all the girls that the enchanter had summoned to his dwelling. It seemed, in fact, that there were hundreds, leaning or lying on ornate couches, or standing in attitudes of languor or terror. Tiglari discerned in the throng the women of Ommu-Zain, whose flesh is whiter than desert salt; the slim girls of Uthmai, who are molded from breathing, palpitating jet; the queenly topaz girls of equatorial Xala; and the small women of Ilap, who have the tones of newly greening bronze. But among them all he could not find the lotus-like beauty of Athlé.

Much he marveled at the number of the women and the perfect stillness with which they maintained their various postures. They were like goddesses that slept in some enchanted hall of eternity. Tiglari, the intrepid hunter, was awed and frightened. These women — if indeed they were women and not mere statues — were surely the thralls of a death-like spell. Here, indeed, was proof of the sorcery of Maal Dweb."


So here we have an isolated location belonging to a former wizard or other worldly power just waiting outside of the campaign setting's location waiting to trap & perhaps destroy any character who comes into contact with its form & function. 

The lost island waiting for a group of intrepid adventurers is a long held tradition in the various Celtic mythologies & super hero comics from the Golden age to the modern era. 

C3 The Lost Island of Castanamir By Ken Rolston has a definitive place at my table coming up! We've got more adventure campaign commentary & classic adventure entries coming up. 

Fire & Lightning - Using May Fair Games Role Aids - Wizards by Bill Fawcett (Editor) For Campaign Construction

"For sheer power, originality, & cunning, no other group approaches Wizards. Collected here are original articles written by the creators of some of the most famous magicians in history."
Quite the tagline from the back of the Mayfair Games Role Aids Wizard's book. And yet I went into this book back in '83 thinking that this was going to be a PC class book. Boy was I wrong!? Well, yes & no. The book isn't an Advanced Dungeons & Dragons character class book but it doesn't make it any less useful nor exciting. 

I don't particularly agree with the Amazon four star review from Jay Epps who said; "Due to the copyright limitations of the time, Mayfair Games was intentionally vague on the stats to skirt around TSR's lawyers. Though it's easy enough to figure everything out if you are familiar with First or Second Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. Translating for those more familiar with Fifth Edition D&D or Pathfinder might be a bit more effort than you might want to spend. It's really an artifact of interest and use to old school gamers more than anything else."

Well what is in fact is an adventure anthology featuring write ups for ; Gilgamish in an adventure for eighth through tenth level, a version of Merlin, another adventure for Morgan Le Fay for third level through sixth level , Lythande of the Thieves world Trilogy by Marion Bradley for fourth through seventh, Shadow Jack from Roger Zelazny's "Jack of Shadows" for fifth through eighth levels, Circe for characters from sixth through ninth level. And then a massive write up on S.Carlonius  by Gordon R. Dickson's  "The Dragon and the George" and "The Dragon Knight" along with a bestiary . Then there's a great bit of Ahaz & Skeeve from Robert Aspirin's comedy "Myth" series get write-ups and an adventure "Mythified" which will work with most levels.

What's here is very useful especially for adventuring in the world or campaign settings based on the fiction of the Wizards featured in the anthology. But this is only part of what can be done here. Instead these NPC write ups could be used for as a jump off point for a party of adventurers NPC patrons! Imagine having a party of adventurers recruited by Shadow Jack from Roger Zelazny's "Jack of Shadows" for an adventure on a post apocalyptic land scape ala Gamma World second edition.  Or locking horns with Merlin & the knights of the round table for an artifact or magic item.
Everything in this book is keyed with more then enough information to act as a jump off point for an old school or OSR  campaign. The adventurers could have these wizards as patrons for their parties. This is a great book to act as perfect set up for Troll Lord Games Castles & Crusades campaign.


Want a straight up Sword & Sorcery campaign with a twist or two use Gilgamesh's write up & set the PC's on to the path of greater glory & perhaps godhood. What about a super hero game ala Amazing Adventures! rpg?! Surely there can't be anything here for that game? Actually if we reach back into the mists of time to  Whiz comics #47 then we have echoes of Captain Marvel's the wizard Shazam. He's a perfect profile for using a wizard as the origin key point for a pulp or super hero! Thanks to the World's Mightiest Mortal blog we get a complete outline of this classic character's origin. 


This same style of hero or even demi god origin could be used with Circe, Merlin, or even gasp Morgan Le Fay for that matter. The limits here on the dungeon master's imagination. I've been toying with using the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Master's Guide listing & generation rules for artifacts for this upcoming demi god game.


This leads me back to an idea that I had within my B/X & AD&D hybrid campaign notes on artifacts transcending time & space. Wizards might have the ability to use said artifacts like the gods to bend the very laws of physics & history to pervert reality. This would make gods such as Greyhawk's Luz very dangerous indeed. It also means that wizards such as Circe could indeed have very different agendas then what PC's might expect. This is another way of using Mayfair's Role Aids Wizards book in an even more unexpected & dangerous light. 

Tainted Words, Wounds, & Mayfair Games Demons II Box Set By Kevin Hassall - Campaign Commentary

"In Demons, you met the lords of the Infernus. now learn the dark secrets of these evil fiends, their methods most foul and how they taint the world of mortals. Learn too, how they might be sought out and destroyed. The world has faced no greater threat than the palpable evil that is... Demons! ~ The Demons II source pack includes: * An 80 page game master's book detailing how demons act and how they taint the world around them; * A 48 page book of demonic adventures; * The 32 page "Razor of Righteousness", a tome which discusses how demons may be recognized, hunted and eradicated; * The "History of the Endeavor", a book of notes describing the Cabal, a brotherhood of ambitious thaumaturgists; * A new character class, the Inquisitor,his habits and techniques; * Expanded information on Slayers, Thaumaturgists and half-demons; * Descriptions of the Gates, the demons' pathways to the plane prime; * Information on the ways of the demon-worshiping cults; * Dozens of demon-wrought magic items and adventure inspirations!"

 

So I've been getting it in the neck for posting a lot about Mayfair Games Demons box set. Well its time to start pissing off some more folks with the Demons II follow up. 1993 was a banner year for the Demons line with this box set setting the standard for Infernus fueled horrors at the table top!  Kevin Hassall really knocked it out of the park with this one. For a B/X Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first edition game campaign this was a killer add on. The foundation that was laid out in the first Demons box set is built upon here. Factions, cults, & more is used to great effect within the setting. The player hand outs set the stage for bringing down the home grown aspect of some of these cults. The demonic  taint here spreads out like ripples on the fetid water of a campaign. This makes this set a good choice for a retroclone system such as Labyrinth Lord or Troll Lord Games Castles & Crusades. 



The expanded information on Slayers, Thaumaturgists and half-demons ports very easily over into the system of Castles & Crusades. By reversing it we can see how this information ports over into a super hero or pulp setting ala Amazing Adventures! rpg. Time & again we see this happening in various Troll Lord products something that Mayfair toyed with all the way back in the 90's. 
Campaign cohesion is something that a dungeon master has to work at & with elements from Demons II the job is easier. The contents of this box set are excellent & well worth tracking down. The Infernus is detailed but not enough to cause a DM headaches when it comes to adding or subtracting elements from their campaigns.


Heroes & PC's need to be heroic these are foes that come off as dangerous, deranged, damaged, & diabolic without the players wanting to play them. Make no mistake about this. These are forces that Luz is subcontracting & already the players are waiting to kick ass.
I've already been asked by several players how is Luz commanding these forces? What is the connection to Greyhawk?! What are the links to the classic campaign?!  Sorry folks your just going to have to arrange your schedules and play!


We already know that Luz's maternal grandmother through adoption is Baba Yaga & already an an army of evil men, terrible wizards and savage orcs has been seen in Russia & parts of the United States. This ties in with the Demons II box set & especially The Codex Slavorum from Troll Lords. 


This ties in with several of Luz's other relatives & some of his enemies as well! I'm having a glorious time with all of this! Do I think that you should pick up the Demons II box set? Yes if you can find it cheaply? Certainly! 

Dungeons & Demons - Mayfair Games Demons Box Set One - OSR Campaign Commentary

So today was a flurry of phone calls & emails. I got a chance to grill DM Steve on what exactly he's gotten me into. I spoke with him about using Mayfair games Demons box set one to create our demon hit squad. Already in the works is another player's paladin to head off said squad of demons from prematurely ending the player's PC's. What is Demons?!

 "Demons is an supplement source book for the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition role playing game. The work was written and published by Mayfair Games. The work appeared in 1992 and was the first of many books to add more detail on demons in the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition which, at that point in time, had removed Demons from the game."Most of my campaign notes were/are a B/X & Advanced Dungeons & Dragons hybrid so Demons way back in the mists of the 1992 era are perfectly suited for this setting. 
"FULLY COMPATIBLE WITH AD&D 2ND EDITION. Eons ago...they were imprisoned in a vast inferno for fomenting a conflict amidst the gods themselves. Now, they're loose and free to prey upon the will of man. Run out of challenges? Try matching wits with the embodiment of all evil. The Demons sourcepack includes: * 48 pages of hole-punched monster descriptions, covering the demons and the inhabitants of their inferno lairs, for your players to add to other game materials; * An 80-page game master's booklet; * The 64-page Infernicum Mallemancia, an ancient book of demon lore that provides your players with all the clues they need to tackle and defeat their diabolical adversaries; * New character classes, including the demon-summoning Thaumaturgist and the demon-hunting Slayer; * Rules for half-demon player characters; * Dozens of new spells and new magic items; * A Full color, 22 "x 34" map; * A complete adventure; and the most powerful spells in fantasy role-playing!"

So I've been reviewing the box set & going over how to really flesh out the beasts that are going to take down my player's PC demi gods. I've also been rereading the Godbound rpg as well. Godbound brings a Hell of a lot to the table pardon the pun. Some of the factions & adversaries are very much at home in the background that I'm planning. The setting material does fit what I've got planned but the cult faction rules are going to be a selling point. Working all of these moving parts & pieces will test my skill but I'm having a great time with it. Godbound is well written &  designed skillfully better then to a certain extent Stars Without Numbers because of the way it handles divinities.  Does it fit Mayfairs Demon line? In a back handed manner, yes. 

Everything from the Apocalypse to the Angel erm Sentinels is in there. Demons are highly dangerous  yet completely motivated for chaos & murder. My players seem absolutely worried! I couldn't be happier but as a dungeon master. The players seem genuinely motivated to move forward with game play as soon as possible. 
I spoke about the rise of the Primorial dragons the other day on this blog but one of my players mentioned the possibility of a species of Spectral dragon appearing? A Spectral Dragon is one of those monsters that I've only seen on the in passing from the Mayfair Dragons Role Aids book. But I came across a spectral dragon conversion on the Vaults of Pandius website. Is it possible that one of these monsters might be seen within the game? I believe it is. 
The demons are acting as mercenary forces in Luz's invasion force. They revel in chaos, violence, & destruction so Earth is perfect breeding ground for them. You can see the set up already!

Already demonic scouts are prowling through the city streets looking for the PC's. But there are other forces at play looking to stave off the growing threat. But what of the artifact of Luz itself? Rumors are that its established a base of operation with anyone of the growing number of cults within the city.  The demons seem to be attracted to several dungeons that the PC's have cleared out over the last couple of months when DM Steve ran the player's PC's through them.
Then there's the suspicion that I'm going to pull several monsters out of the B/X Dungeons & Dragons Expert set? Since several of my players actually read this blog I will not confirm nor deny this.


What I will say is that I can confirm that several of the dungeons have doorways that lead straight into the Infernicum. Players should be very afraid & indeed because there are a lot of fronts in this war. Many of the entities that are mentioned in the Demons box set remind me of the demonic monsters that we've seen the classic Marvel  Dr. Strange comic book. Creatures motivated by more then simple needs & wants that human beings can understand but truly alien horror lurking just under the surface. Zom is a great example of the type of unique & utterly dangerous forces that we find in the Demons Box set.

These forces are utterly unique but fit in the divine quasi ecology of fiction that we find running as a thread throughout the Mayfair Role Aids line. 

4 Classic TSR Modules Under The Influence of The Ravenloft Setting For Old School Adventure

'The coiling mists of Ravenloft close their tendrils of fog & mist on other classic Dungeons  & Dragons  old school adventures. Adventures where the shadows grow longer & the aspects of monsters grow much more sinister as well as deadly. "
 

The idea here is to take five classic modules of  Dungeons & Dragons then marry these classics to the Ravenloft setting. How does the tone of these classic modules change & metamorphose into something totally unexpected ?


S3 Expedition to the Barrier Peaks suddenly takes on a darkly ironic kick to it as the ruined star ship not only is infected with hordes of undead zombies but the alien Flayer species is aboard as well. Very vicious monsters are being released onto the countryside at the same time which could mean the end of the world unless the PC's are willing to check out the dangerous remains of this cursed stead from the sky.
Once the party realizes the danger the ship represents then they must stop the undead hordes aboard from over running the countryside!



"Lost in the desert! The only hope for survival lies in a ruined city rising out of the sands. Food, water, and wealth await heroic adventures inside and ancient pyramid ruled by a strange race of masked beings. "

Every day the sands grow as the desert seeks to engulf  everything like a living hand of dry corruption! The goal is to to find out who or what is behind the sinister masked beings that are kidnapping locals & strange rumors of the demon god who is been accepting sacrifices once again. Does the lower levels of the lost city  under influence of Ravenloft contain far more demon gods & worse?



The cult of the demon god of B4 The Lost City under Ravenloft has already spread out into the county side like a disease. Th cancer is growing & only the adventurers can stop it! The dangers here grow as vampires & undead locked away for centuries flood out of these hidden levels.
"Not long ago, the valley was green and animals ran free through golden fields of grain. The Princess Argenta ruled over this peaceful land and the people were secure and happy. Then one day, a warrior riding a white dragon appeared in the skies over the castle, and almost overnight the tiny kingdom fell into ruin. Now only ruins and rumors remain, and what legends there are tell of a fabulous treasure still buried somewhere within the Palace of the Silver Princess."

The lunacy of B3 The Palace of the Silver Princess oozes into the counrty side as reality is twisted into knots by the mists of Ravenloft. Reality melts as the events of B3 spread like a cancer from the magicks of the events of the adventure. Men, women, animals are twisted into distorted versions of themselves as the curse of the valley spreads!
"
Gray Mountain lies deep in the lush elven forest. The temple there was a haven of meditation and learning until taken over by an evil cleric known as the Rahib.

Far under the mountain, he paces before the temple's great altar. A brown-robed servant rushes in and falls to his knees, trembling at the sight of the Rahib's black panther. "Rahib, adventurers came to the village as the sun rose - the strangers now protect Rahasia."

A scowl crosses the Rahib's face. "I must have Rahasia! Attack again tonight." As the servant scurries away, a deep growl rises from the giant cat.

Gripping the panther's leash, the Rahib paces again, speaking out loud. "We must dispose of these strangers quickly; the secret beneath the temple will not wait much longer."" The PC's stumble upon an evil Elven cult of shape shifters whose influence deeply connects to the powers of Ravenloft itself. Murder,intrigue, horror, & the powers of Ravenloft tear at the PC's in this adventure. Modifying B7 means that the magcicks of the adventure must be stopped! 

Which of Ravenloft's Dark lords is behind the Rahib & whose taking advantage of the twisting of the magics of the temple in the Grey Mountains? Killing anyone that the party meets in this adventure would be very unwise.
The power s behinds the mists of Ravenloft are going to take full advantage of these adventure locations by spreading & maintaining the evils of them. In point of fact they'll be turning the horror & depravity aspects of these modules up to eleven. Just in time for Halloween.

OSR Commentary - Using Classic Dungeons & Dragons Adventures With Weird Fantasy Gaming Systems

This blog got a mention on G+ thanks to +Brett Slocum  & in this case the topic was one that I've had a bit of experience with. How do you weird up a classic adventure module in the vein of Lamentations of the Flame Princess? The actual question comes from Dismaster FraNe;

'Let's say you have some classic modules (Caverns of Thracia, Keep on the Borderlands etc.)

How do you weird them up in a LotFP style?

I am running a classic fantasy dungeoncrawling (Tomb of the Serpent Kings) but the idea is to expand the campaign outside and in other places and dungeons along with the official LotFP ones.

My idea was to have a multidimensional universe with different places like Weird Early Modern Europe (the main LotFP setting) along with A Red And Pleasant Land, Vornheim, maybe Carcosa, and "fantasyland" (classic D&D fantasy, where the players now are).
I'd like to spice up fantasyland in a LotFP way though.'



Lamentations of the Flame Princess by James Raggi IV  is a very solidly designed gaming system & offers some unique challenges when running PC's through its gaunt of weird adventure mixed with actual real world history. The setting is a dark & very twisted pulped out Europe during the ages leading up to the age of   'Pike & Shot'
So where does this put a classic module like 'Keep on The Borderlands?' It puts the keep  right at center stage where the warfare of Keep of the Borderlands is a part of the wars of  raging across a war wary Europe.
'Player characters begin by arriving at the eponymous keep, and can base themselves there before investigating the series of caverns in the nearby hills teeming with monsters' Since this module was written & designed by G.Gygax himself  it seems that it might be out of place in in LoFP campaign. Nothing could be further from the truth if the module is set along the Black Forrest of Germany. The area has a rich history of mythology including fairy activity dating back thousands of years. Warfare stirs up the ancient powers of fairyland & then its all bets off as the humanoid's activity blends into the background of the violence of the events of 'Better Then Any Man.' Why I'm talking about the events of Better Then Any Man? Because everything in that adventure takes place in Karlstadt as the center of Better Than Any Man & the home of the adventurers.
Make sure before running that adventure as a prelude to B2 that you visit this blog for some solid advice & resources for 'Better Then Any Man.'


The PC's are going to find out that something rather nasty is going on as they encounter an orc or groups of humanoids attacking a small village near the events of BTAM. This leads them into an encounter with the forces of the keep & the possible desperate situation of B2's fort's inhabitants. Remember the fort is a part of a backwater community. The PC's have just experienced the twisted reality of 'Better Then Any Man'. This is going to lead them into the Caves of Chaos which is not a part of our world but a part of fairyland. The humanoids are not what they appear but the damned souls of Rome's finest. In the 200 years between the reforms of Augustus and the rise of Septimius Severus the Roman army fought to expand the Empire and saw action in the dark forests of Germany. The Caves of Chaos claimed their souls & the generators of the place keep reincarnating them back as the slave troops of the supernatural forces of the caves. These poor bastards exist to slaughter, murder, and war. The PC's are going to need to end the madness & move on.
This adventure path leads directly into;"The end of the road. A lonely fort stands on the banks of a mighty river. It is here the hardy bands of adventurers gather to plan their conquests of The Hill, the hulking mass that looms over this tiny settlement.
The Hill is filled with monsters, they say, and an evil witch makes her home there. Still, no visitor to The Hill has ever returned to prove the rumors true or false. The thrill of discovery is too great to pass up, and only the river stands in the way. The adventurers' boat is waiting!'B5 Horror on the Hill by Douglas Nile from 1983 at first doesn't seem to fit into the Lamentations of the Flame Princess aesthetic.  This is where there are two things to remember like B2 Horror on the Hill has a PC base of operations in this case Guido's fort & the events of this module are going to be taking place within an adventure location with connections to fairy. 

The infinite tower location from Better Then Any Man might well be connected with events of Horror on the Hill & its easy enough to replace Guido's Fort with the Keep from B2.


The goblins & hobgoblins are going to have to be much more dangerous & metal for Lamentations implying that perhaps the dungeon location is one that switches back & forth between the real world & reality. This is perhaps because the alien reality of fairy has in the past taken various places back to the unrealities of fairyland. Time runs different, babies are kidnapped & possibly eaten, the connections to the damned & dead are very real. All of the weird bits of the fairy legends are true & very dangerous. This is also going to mean that the realities of adventuring are going to have unforeseen consequences for the PC's. Treasures & relics taken might be cursed or turn to leaves. Lives of PC's wasted at the drop of a hat for the false promise of riches & perhaps the various Elves & Dwarves of LoFP long for fairy but are denied memories of it.
A vital clue or two might lead PC's into a time warp & gateway from B5 into England of 1620 & the events of No Salvation For Witches by Rafael Chandler . Why? Because the stop gap gives the PC's a chance to experience the horrors of the meddling of man kind with the 'forces of beyond'. It also gives the dungeon master a chance to connect the random demons of No Salvation for Witches with events of B5 Night's Dark Terror. Note that this adventure path is going to chew through a lot of PC's. This is alright because this is LoFP.


 

Because B10 Night's Dark Terror is a wilderness based adventure with lots of B/X campaign setting weirdness in it. According to the Drivethrurpg entry; ""Night's Dark Terror" marks the start of the second wave of Known World creativity, following the period from 1981-1986 when it was primarily the vision of Zeb Cook. It was also the third great touchstone for the setting, following its introduction in the D&D Expert Set and its unification in X10: "Red Arrow, Black Shield".  The adventure details many of the wildlands of the Grand Duchy of Karamekios and also introduces new peoples such as the ancient Hutaakans and the Iron Ring slavers. It extensively describes several major locations, such as the city of Threshold. A magic tapestry of the lands that appears within the adventure really helps to define B10 as the gazetteer for this part of the Known World. " This is fine because it marks B10 as being a perfect vehicle for an early Russian or Romanian historical adventure. This means it can be married up quite nicely with a secondary campaign setting that the players are not going to expect in the form of Zak Smith's A Red & Pleasant Land or Zak S and James Edward Raggi IV  Death Frost Doom  In fact because of the wilderness crawl aspect of B10 both adventures can seamlessly fit into the whole cloth of the campaign & adventure path with none the wiser. Don't over explain the mysteries & weirdness the players will do all of the heavy lifting for you.



Hopefully by now in the campaign some of the adventurers are going to retire to Karlstadt or have taken over the keep & their ready to retire. Another generation of adventurers can take up the mantle at the point. So what might happen? Well new adventurer PC's means new opportunities & here I'd use England Upturn’d by Barry Blatt  as an adventure set during the English Civil War with an entirely new cast. Things are going to be very desperate & the various factions of this adventure means opportunity to run perhaps the Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh trilogy right into the background with a far more Lovecraftian flare.

This secondary adventure path gives the dungeon master the opportunity to introduce Carcosa & Isle of the Unknown to the unsuspecting players. By dropping clues from England Up Turn'd some faction might want to mount expeditions to the fabled 'treasure islands'. By dropping  in X1 Isle of Dread but placing  the adventure on Carcosa  gives the DM the opportunity to watch the sheer panic.

 

This sort of an arch gives the DM plenty of opportunity to use Geoffrey McKinney's Isle of the Unknown. 

There are several things to keep in mind when threading in & out of this sort of a weird fantasy campaign. All of the LoFP products are not simply adventures but whole cloth source book which often have a real world history component.  This dark history version of Europe is the default setting for LoFP princess and lends a great deal of gravitas to the various Lamentations adventures. Dungeon masters should not ever feel constrained to not modify or edit either the classic era TSR adventures nor the various Lamentations of the Flame Princess adventures as the whims of the players & the campaign dictate.
In fact part of my own inspiration for tonight's commentary & adventure path was inspired not by the usual Robert Howard's Solomon Kane but
Dark Agnes de Chastillon who might be thought of as the spiritual ancestor to the Flame Princess;

"Dark Agnes de Chastillon (also known as Agnes de Chastillon, Dark Agnes, Agnes de la Fere and The Sword Woman) is a fictional character created by Robert E. Howard and the protagonist of three stories set in 16th Century France, which were not printed until a long time after the author's death.
The character of Agnes was beaten by her father and almost forced into an arranged marriage. She avoids this by killing the bridegroom and running away. She meets Etienne Villiers, who at first attempts to sell her to a brothel, and Guiscard de Clisson, a mercenary captain who trains her as a swordswoman. When de Clisson is killed, Agnes heads for Italy with Villiers.
Like the later character Red Sonja, who was based on another Howard character, Red Sonya of Rogatino, Agnes has red hair and a short temper. But while Red Sonja's skill in the handling of swords is a divine gift, Agnes's skill is a mixture of innate talent and training.
The character may be partially based on Novalyne Price.^[1] Fictional prototypes include Jirel of Joiry, created by C. L. Moore. Moore was enthusiastic about the first of Howard's stories:^[2]

My blessings! I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed “Sword-Woman”. It seemed such a pity to leave her just at the threshold of higher adventures. Your favorite trick of slamming the door on a burst of bugles! And leaving one to wonder what happened next and wanting so badly to know. Aren’t there any more stories about Agnes?"