OSR Sword & Sorcery Campaign Commentary On Clark Aston Smith's The Isle of the Torturers

 Isle of the Torturers By Clark Aston Smith is one of those stories that get's under my skin. It's been awhile since I've worked on our Zothique campaign setting. And this afternoon it was time to crack the Clark Aston Smith books & we came to one of his best in my humble opinion. According to the Wiki entry; ""The Isle of the Torturers" is a short story by American author Clark Ashton Smith as part of his Zothique cycle, and first published in the March 1933 issue of Weird Tales." 
There are couple of questions that hit my mind right off the bat with a rereading of The Isle of the Torturers By Clark Aston Smith. For instance what the Hell is the Silver Death & why is the star Achernar coming so close to Earth's Zothique? The star Achenar is real and according to it's wiki entry; , also known as Alpha Eridani,The system bears the traditional name of  Achernar  (sometimes spelled Achenar), derived from the Arabic khir an-nahr, meaning "The End of the River". Which is interesting because the story almost implies that the universe is contracting enabling this star to appear in the night sky to rain down  the metallic debris known as the Silver Death. Or is it that he star Achenar has become a wanderer in this far future millions of years down the line. 
And what about this magic ring that was prepared by the  sorcerer Vemdeez?! This magic ring protects it's wearer from the effects of the Sliver Death but at what cost? Nothing is explained about the origin of this ring?! According to the text of Isle of the Torturers; "Now Vemdeez had cast the horoscope of Fulbra; and though he found therein certain ambiguities that his science could not resolve, it was nevertheless written plainly that the king would not die in Yoros. Where he would die, and in what manner, were alike doubtful. But Vemdeez, who had served Altath the father of Fulbra, and was no less devoted to the new ruler, had wrought by means of his magical art an enchanted ring that would protect Fulbra from the Silver Death in all times and places. The ring was made of a strange. red metal, darker than ruddy gold or copper, and was set with a black and oblong gem, not known to terrestrial lapidaries, that gave forth eternally a strong aromatic perfume. The sorcerer told Fulbra never to remove the ring from the middle finger on which he wore it — not even in lands afar from Yoros and in days after the passing of the Silver Death: for if once the plague had breathed upon Fulbra, he would bear its subtle contagion always in his flesh; and the contagion would assume its wonted virulence with the ring's removal. But Vemdeez did not tell the origin of the red metal and the dark gem, nor the price at which the protective magic had been purchased." This could be a prime hook for a DM to get the player's PC's to be sent on a series of quests to get the ingredients for what will become the ring of Vemdeez.
And what of the Silver Death it'self?! There seems to be no way to escape it. Yet, the coming of it was foretold in horoscopes, dreams, prophecies, and more. Was there anyway to prepare for this cosmic disaster!? 
What is it with the Isle of Uccastrog?! They have more then a fever for the art of torture and pain. They remind me of Clive Barker's Cenobites from the Hellraiser films in which the people are absolutely insane and the Silver Death is definitely warranted to exterminate them. However how many adventurers and victims had fallen into their twisted hands over the centuries. And could the PC's save some fool from this kingdom's tender mercies?! 
Then there's the fate of the magic ring of Vemdeez?! What happens when and if it surfaces again as relic magic items often seem to? Will the Silver Death follow it's magical trail? Could the adventurers be on a quest doom to failure to save the world from the on coming threat?!
Isle of the Torturers is one of CAS's finest stories but for me it opens many,many, doors for adventures and campaigns set on Zothique itself. 

Warriors of The Red Planet Rpg & Lieut. Gullivar Jones: His Vacation by English writer Edwin Lester Arnold For An Old Mars Campaign

Mars is a massively dangerous place to dungeon crawl & adventuring down in the ruins. This blog post picks up from this blog post. 

So we've been working with Warriors of the Red Planet and taking advantage of the multi WoRP races and PC classes. This is a great system to run full on post apocalyptic rpg campaigns. 

To this end I've been rereading Lieut. Gullivar Jones: His Vacation by English writer Edwin Lester Arnold, & this book has numerous elements that perhaps inspired Edgar Rice Burroughs 'A Princess of Mars'. 

Lieut. Gullivar Jones: His Vacation was published in 1905 & 'A Princess of Mars' was published in 1917. 

Is there a way of including both Gullivar Jones's Mars  & John Carter's Barsoom together in one campaign setting. According GULLIVER JONES ON BARSOOM?  by Den Valdron in ERBzine issue 1403 there's a ton of reasons why Gulliver Jones adventures took place in the Arctic region of Barsoom. 

The Mars of Gullivar Jones is highly dangerous place because it's essentially a prehistoric micro cosm of 'the Mars of yesteryear'. Sure you've got the Hither & Thither peoples with a relatively stable culture comparable to the Eloi & the Morlocks of HG Wells Time Machine novel. But there are other peoples, creatures, etc. which the author doesn't get deeply into. I have to admit that it was a bit slow going at times with the Edwin Lester Arnold going into far more detail about the alien plants then the creatures and monsters. Does this actually line up with evolutionary traits of ancient Mars?! What I'am I talking about?! 

Does Lieut. Gullivar Jones: His Vacation's fixation on the plant life point up a truth that we've found within Clark Aston Smith's Mars cycle. The simple evolutionary truth that the animal life on Mars is highly aggressive and multi limbed  for a reason. That reason is the fact that the plant life is highly evolved to kill animal life in a wide variety of creative ways. 
Think about it. Mars even when it was green is a very 'plant eats animal' based world. This Mars belongs to the first cycle of the planet when it was dominated by plant based life, gods, and even horrors.  We know this because Clark Ashton Smith goes hard into this with his Mars Cycle: 

• Dweller in the Gulf, The  (1933)
• Mnemoka (1955) Fragment
• Vaults of Yoh-Vombis, The  (1931)
• Vulthoom  (1935)
• Seedling of Mars or The Planet Entity  [plot by - E M Johnson] (1931)[An alternative background to the proceeding 4 stories]

What does this mean for Edgar Rice Burroughs material?! Quite a bit for the DM whose linking all of these stories together for their Warriors of the Red Planet campaign. Edgar Rice Burroughs's Plant Men from The Gods of  Mars by  Edgar  Rice Burroughs are hold overs from this time period gardened and tended by the Therns and their religion of manipulation. This ecological manipulation goes deeply into the lands of the Hither & Thither peoples. Extending deeply into the dungeons & ruins of the Martian underworld. We'll go down into the Martian underworld, the Therns, and the dungeon ecology of Mars next time. 

Warriors of The Red Planet & Clark Aston Smith's The Vaults of Yoh-Vombis (1931) - For An Old Mars Campaign

'There were eight of us, professional archaeologists with more or less terrene and interplanetary experience, who set forth with native guides from Ignarh, the commercial metropolis of Mars, to inspect that ancient, aeon-deserted city. Allan Octave, our official leader, held his primacy by virtue of knowing more about Martian archaeology than any other Terrestrial on the planet; and others of the party, such as William Harper and Jonas Halgren, had been associated with him in many of his previous researches. I, Rodney Severn, was more of a newcomer, having spent but a few months on Mars; and the greater part of my own ultra-terrene delvings had been confined to Venus.'

'I had often heard of Yoh-Vombis, in a vague and legendary sort of manner, and never at first hand. Even the ubiquitous Octave had never seen it. Builded by an extinct people whose history has been lost in the latter, decadent eras of the planet, it remains a dim and fascinating riddle whose solution has never been approached . . . and which, I trust, may endure forevermore unsolved by man. Certainly I hope that no one will ever follow in our steps . . . .'

• Clark Aston Smith's Vaults of Yoh-Vombis, The (1931)

 There's something right outta of the gate of the Clark Aston Smith's Vaults of Yoh-Vombis, The (1931)that reeks of the alieness of Mars. A certain morbidness  air that hangs right in the opening paragraphs. These are a crew of adventurers under the guise of archaeologists who are plumbing the depths of a Mars that humanity barely understands.  This is an old and very dangerous world hoary with age, horror, and alien Lovecraftian gods dwelling in its underworld.

This Mars belongs to the first cycle of the planet when it was dominated by plant based life, gods, and even horrors. This is related in the 1933 story by Clark Aston Smith in which  these stories are set on the same Mars - that of the Aihais and their predecessors the Yorhis. These two peoples belong to the next cycle when Mars crests into the Barsoomian cycle. This makes it easy to move this campaign into a Warriors of the Red Planet rpg campaign. 

But the alien plant cycle won't be denied because the Aihais and their predecessors the Yorhis are hoarders of ancient forbidden secrets sequestered away in lost valleys of a grim and highly dangerous Mars. For Warriors of the Red Planet campaign 'This is a world where mankind has made his mark & then stumbled into the fires of his own nuclear fall from grace. There are space ports here and there, a few human city states but the Martian races have re emerged on Mars from hidden valleys & scattered colonies across the face of Mars. There are ancient Lovecraftian horrors & gods that rule as they have for billions of years scattered in certain countries across the face of this world. This is world where the sword is king & you need to keep your radium side arm handy. Mutants, ancient evils, and worse await you in the red night.' The Blackgate blog covers this with The Fantasy Cycles of Clark Aston Smith Part IV with the following; "  The current inhabitants of Smith's Mars call themselves Aihais and have barrel chests, multi-articulated arms, high flaring ears, and pit-like nostrils. The best remembered of the dead civilizations, the Yorhi, have physical similarities to the Aihai but left behind sinister ruins and legends of their passing." 

Humans are only now starting to unearth and explore these forbidden ruins. And for the sake of the human race we'd better hope they don't uncover the wrong dungeon. 

Clark Aston Smith's Mars in his Martian cycle is a dark and forbidding place where the human race is trespassing on a world that humanity barely understands at all. Could Barsoom fit into this?! Why not we've got planet men who are highly dangerous and one of the last things that some poor 2000 year old Red Martian is likely too see. 

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 Commentary - The Law Vs Chaos War In The Hyperborea rpg Campaign

 “Barbarianism is the natural state of mankind. Civilization is unnatural. It is the whim of circumstance. And barbarianism must ultimately triumph”
― Robert E. Howard

Chaos on Hyperborea has always been a very weird area for me as a dungeon master. There are lots of indications that sometime in the past of the passing of Old Earth and The Green Death something rather nasty took place on the flat plateau world of Hyperborea. And there are indicators that it might have been some form of the conflict between Law & Chaos. 

Given the influence of Clark Ashton Smith I think that such a conflict would look vastly different. More akin to the author's Weird Tales leanings. And less in the vein of DC comics or Michael Moorcock even though Moorcock is a huge influence on the Hyperborea rpg. 
And through reading about the Lovecraftian and demonic monsters of Hyperborea a hypthosis forms in my mind. Hyperborea was a battle front in the war between Chaos and Law but only a minor dust up. To the Earth however this might have been a major world  end event. Law won but there was a cost. Chaos's soldiers & monsters have been left behind having slinked off to the four corners of Hyperborea with thier purpose over. But is it?! There a sense of circular purpose to Hyperborea like the fact that Ice Worm will devour the artificial planet. The Chaos forces are slinked into the forgotten places of Hyperborea. 

If the Chaos vs Law war happened it was long time ago and the believers have long since turned to dust. Thier cults however continue on even after the war ended eons ago. The proof of this is in the fact that only Appollo, Artemis, and Boetzu are the only gods of Law still in any capacity of power on Hyperborea. These cults continue to struggle for power in any real solid form on our version of Hyperborea. Really there are actually still a ton of artifacts of Law waiting to be discovered in the lost dungeons and fortresses of Hyperborea.  And without the influence of Law the civilization of humanity could be sliding into the Abyss of barbarism and Chaos. 
The gods of Chaos stroke humanity's ego and power by influencing the tribes of warriors and worshipers to cleave towards violence. Don't believe me? Take a look at the nine axiom alignment system that the Hyperborea rpg uses. This is all a part of the natural Lovecraftian cycle that happens to worlds. Seldom does civilization rise from the morass of Chaos to embrace advancement. 
In Clark Aston Smith's Lovecraftian gods patheon's placement these alien gods seem to be there to end an epoch of mankind. As if Chaos and entropy itself are a part of the natural cycle as an age declines they come in and clean the slate for another era. And yet they guard the ruins until the natural order swallows up these lost dungeons & ruins. We see this in CAS's The Weird of Avoosl Wuthoqquan. We see this on CAS's Hyperborea and I hard to guess we also see it on the Hyperborea rpg campaign setting as well. 

Assassin War On Old Mars - Seprent's Lair - Old Mars Mini Campaign Set Up - Hyperborea Rpg & Warriors of the Red Planet -Session Report One

 So it looks like Night Owl Workshop has 'defected' to Big Geek Emporium along with a number of other vendors. How does this affect our Assassins War game?! It doesn't and instead our PC's woke up within the lair of a race of Serpent Men's cell. This all takes place within the polar swamps of Mars. The Ancient Worm's worship is still powerful here & the PC's are to be sacrificed as Phobos races across the sky at first light. 
These serpent men are the polar variation & have arms & legs. The PC's were paralyzed with light venom in their veins. The players bonded over thier escape and learnt first hand about the plot to stir the pot of the Assasin War on Old Mars. 
After Meka the red martian mind master got full control of one of the serpent warriors the party was able to escape into the swamps. 

And events went from bad to worse as the serpent men became aware of thier escape from their lair. then gave chase but the party had  a few hours start. The party were able to find some small amount of gear within the serpent men's lair. And for a few hours game time the party wandered the swamp encountering a giant serpent that was an agent of said serpent men. However they shot the serpent and found it's lair within an abandoned palace. They were able to find weapons, ammo, & 'new gear' within. Including an echanted sword belonging to an ancient Martian lord of order. 
Today is a day that I didn't have a lot of time to design or develop the serpent men's lair. So I fudged it a bit with Flying Buffalo's Wilderness Encounters 100 pg Bonus. Here was a ready to go Serpent Men's lair with all of the trimmings ready to go! 

These serpentmen are mobile, humanoid, and highly dangerous. The majority of the nest that the PC's escaped from are 2nd level fighters with a seventh level Sorcerer of the Black Circle. What terrors does the abandoned palace hold? Tune in next time for more action. 

Assassin War On Old Mars - Old Mars Mini Campaign Set Up - Hyperborea Rpg & Warriors of the Red Planet

 The Assassins War is about to heat up on 'Old Mars' as a copy of the infamous the Vulth' russ or its translated title 'the black tongue of knowledge'. One of the branches of the Jrosu'rau has a death contract to get it for one of the serpent men temples deep in the jungles of the Drooth swamp lands near the ice poles. 

The PC's have been contacted by one of the Morlock priests about the where abouts of the book. Old Earth transported thousands of Morlock & Eloi engineers, workers, etc to Mars to help with the underworks on the planet. The Morlocks have an underground nation with an above pleasure city where the colonists can blow off steam with the Eloi pleasure slaves. 
However the Morlocks use their Eloi as spies, and their eyes across 'Old Mars'. 
However the reappearance of the  the Vulth' russ may signal the end of one Martian cycle & the beginning of the reappearance of the 'children of the Old Ones'. The Morlocks fear this will upset the delicate balance of 'Old Mars'. 
And already hundreds of Eloi workers & pleasure slaves have gone missing. They fear that these events are related. And in the shadows of Mars guild assassins have started a Shadow War with  the Jrosu'rau. 

Deeper Then a Red Shadow - A White Star rpg , Warriors of The Red Planet & Hyperborea rpg - Post Apocalpytic Solar System Campaign- Actual Play Event

 So in last night's second game the party got in way deep over their heads as we pick from last session here.  The party ran across a Green martian mother & child that was about to be bug food & had to make a snap decision. 

Shadow wasn't playing and released a very nasty combat bot & things got heated from there with the party's necromancer grudging saving the party & the mother and child with the last charge on the teleport spell scroll. 
They ended up about four miles away from the bug hive and deeper still into Red Shadow turf. The party however was shown a way out by the Green martian mother through a snaking mount pass around the Red Shadow base. This went right by a mine field around one of the most deadly fields where the Red Shaow's Skeletron ships were sent out on raids. And the party didn't linger marking the trail and getting outta of there as quickly. 
And just as they were leaving?! They ran into a Red Shadow cyborg soldier! 

 Red Shadow cyborg soldier

AC: 7 

Hit Dice 3 

HDE/XP: 3/76

Total Hitpoints:+3

Movement:12  

Special: See Below 
Attack: Weapon Laser pistol 1d6+2 or Laser Rifle 2d6+3 

Special Abilities - Hive Link with the Shadow A.I., Immune to charm, telepathy, and any mind influencing abilities. The Red Shadows are in constant cybertelepathic contact with the Shadow A.I. 

The Red Shadows are the dregs of humanity, recruited from the mercenary and criminal underworlds all around the world. Initially drawn by promises of riches, these men are subjected to extreme brainwashing techniques and a punishing training schedule intended to transform them into unthinking minions 

The party had to take him out fast and the party peppered the Red Shadow Cyborg trooper with arrows, spells, & finally burnt the body with oil just to be sure. They would be noticed in less then a half an hour and the party would be noticed! The party quickly got outta of there. But did they manage to get away?! 

Spectre Of A Red Shadow - A White Star rpg , Warriors of The Red Planet & Hyperborea rpg - Post Apocalpytic Solar System Campaign- Actual Play Event

 During tonight's game the PC's were 'saved' by strange warplane that came outta of no place and strafed the tanker spider destroying it. The bright red warplane bore a black background with a white skull dropping bombs on the remains of the tanker killing the spy along with any hidden spiders. This blog post will pick right up from here. 

The PC's met some old nemesis on Mars in the form of the Red Shadows, the shadows organization are a cryptic alliance from the bowels of an underground base clones of the original members of the Red Shadow organization. An A.I. entity called Shadow unfroze the clones during the war & they've been acting as a maurading mercenary army ever since. 
Red Shadows 

Tech Level: IV 

TYPES: PSH (35%); H (45%); MA (40%); P (15%); A (10%) NUMBER: 1d10 BASE: A (5d10; along the dead sea bottoms ); B (2d10 + 50; along dead sea bottoms ); H (10d10+100; usually near the ancient enterances to the main sea bottoms) SECRET SIGN: Among human settlements a skull drawn in the red sands. 
A couple of years ago the party ran into the Red Shadows during a raid on an ancient Martian city to recover some super science items and devices. The Shadows pinned them down inside the dungeon & the party only escaped through the Martian underground. 

The only survived by engaging in a deep running fire fight with the Red Shadows and the Shadows released one of their fearsome combat droids. 

The party's necromancer used a scroll to summon an air elemental blowing the warplane off course. The necromancer's summoning sends a signal to the local hives and suddenly the air is filled with a swarm of scout bugs. 
Scout Bug AC: 4 [16] HD: 3 Atk: bite and tail whip Dmg: 1d6, and 1d6 Save: F3 Move: 180’/360’ These remarkable creatures are incredibly fast moving, sensitive to everything around them, and can move underground, in the air, and even into space. Their sole purpose is to scout the area around a hive, maintain surveillance in case of intruders, and report back to their Brain bug. They have +3 to initiative. +2 bonus to any rolls requiring detection.
These scout bugs are straight outta of Colonial Troopers: Knight Hawks and the party needed a radical plan to get outta of this slot. They figured that they were between the front line of the Red Shadows and  the bugs. 
The party's rune graver wanted to do something radical but the necromancer still had a teleportation scroll on him. But then the party had got the radical ideal to find the Red Shadow base nearby ie within 2000 mile radius as the party figures. 
But they still have to deal with this hive?! Tune in coming up! 

Night of the Norni Affair - A White Star rpg , Warriors of The Red Planet & Hyperborea rpg - Post Apocalpytic Solar System Campaign- Actual Play Event

 The party made it's way back to citadel of the White Hand & the more senior's reaction was priceless. What is a Gamma World Cryptic alliance doing on a colonized Mars?! Well they didn't have long to contemplate the thought as the citadel was surrounded by landed pirate raiders belonging to Magic Pig Media's Outer Space Raiders: The Norni. The Norni were a client race of the Hyperboreans who were resettled upon some of Jupiter's moons during the war. They're mid level NPC thugs driven by a rather nasty void knight for a leader. This session report picks right up from this blog entry here. 

The party were out gunned, out weaponed, and had little reason to go against the Norni in a straight up fight. So they decided to wait until the pirates had left before seeing if any of the monks were alive. Their Hyperborean patron had confirmed their suspicions about the White Hand that they were holding a supply of the Plutonian drug. This goes wayback to 2017's campaign here.  The party found the monks alive after the pirates had left. And though the pirates hadn't gotten the Plutonian drug they had taken several valuable pieces of high super science artifacts used for healing. 
And that's when one of the monks attacked dropping his Aihais illusion. The Norni chaos monk was more then a match for two of the party until Ricky's Zeta assassin stepped in and finished him with a poisoned dagger to the back. The monks swarmed in to heal the pirate/monk but the poison was very fast acting. But Rick's black circle neromancer had a trick up his sleeve with a 'speak with dead' scroll at the ready. To say that the White Hand monks were pissed about this is putting it mildly. The adventurers don't care as their actually agents working for the Stellar Legion who will take on just about any misfits as long as their loyal to the legion. 

The party isn't in the mood for caring about the monks at this point. But then the monks informed the party that citadel was being watched by more alien spiders. The party geared up weapons with the White Hand informing the party that wasn't necessary as their own ranks boasted some high ranking psionists. The party didn't want any of this business and called in an air strike on the spiders. 

After the airstrike the party went out in the desert surrounding the citadel looking for any signs of surviving spiders. And that's when they found a Norni pirate signer one specifically calibrated to call in the spiders. And that's when the party's scouts rolled in and began tracking the bastard spy across the wastes. The rest of the party said their good byes to the White Hand swearing to recover the super science devices and they went after the spy. 
Things didn't go as planned when they ran smack into a rather large & dangeorus tanker spider. Will they survive?! 

Post Apocalpytic Solar System Campaign Commentary - A Sister's Touch - Dragon magazine #119 & The Sisters of the Aquarian Order

 Classic Dragon magazine issue # 119 March 1987 has some really remarkable ideas within it for minor  Cryptic Alliances & these have implications for  our solar system White Star campaign.
 Besides having a killer cover by artist Daniel Horne; "Daniel Horne, our cover artist this month, was in the mood to do a historical

subject. His painting, entitled The Real Reason the Romans left Britain, depicts a

little-known episode in British history, in which two Roman foot soldiers have

bumped into Kostchtchie, the surly fellow from page 40 of the Monster Manual II.

Of the unsquashed legionnaire, Daniel writes, Boy, is he going to get it!"  Sorry got distracted by that awesome Dragon magazine cover. God I miss the real Dragon magazines. Right, so let's pick this up from this blog post here & talk about doing a solar system centric White Star game with the Starship Warden thrown in. Going over some of the huge swath of White Star titles that I own one in particular came to the fore. And perhaps it was talking with the author Timothy Brannan the other day ( hope your feeling better Timothy). The Sisters of the Aquarian Order (Aquarian Sister) dragged themselves kicking & screaming to my attention last night. Who are the Sisters of the Aquarian Order?! 

Well, according to this May 2015 blog entry by Timothy; "The Sisters of the Aquarian Order (Aquarian Sister) have their geneses not only from my witch class (they can be considered to be the evolution of the Aquarian Tradtition) but also from such sources in Sci-Fi like the Bene Gesserit (Dune), the Sisterhood of Karn (Doctor Who) and the Night Sisters, the Witches of Dathomir (Star Wars)." What does this have to do with Dragon 119? Well, there's the Gamma World article, 'Politics Among The Rubble' by Lent and it happens to feature 'The Sisterhood of the Sword' aka 'The Sisterhood'. The Sisterhood breaks down as follows; " Tech Level II TYPES (females only): PSH (50%); H (45%); MA (15%) NUMBER: 1d10 

BASE: B (2d6+3); C (3d10+25); D (3d100 + 50)

SECRET SIGN: Ancient symbol for womanhood, with a dagger and crosspiece as the

tail, emblazoned on shields, banners,

armor, and clothing.

LOCATION: East coast of America.

DESCRIPTION: The Sisterhood of the

Sword believes that the Shadow Years and

the fall of mankind were brought about by

violent, male-dominated governments, and

only females are suited to lead the way

back to civilization by assuming all defensive and leadership positions. Despite

these views, the followers of the Sisterhood do not, with the exception of a few

splinter groups, force their views upon

others, preferring to gain converts from

example and other, gentler means of persuasion. Their bases are test sites for their

doctrine, with regular reports to the Sisterhoods main base. The Sisterhood is on

good terms with the Brotherhood of

Thought, the Healers, the Friends of Justice, and the Knights of Avalon. Their own

beliefs, however, often put them at crosspurposes with the Followers of the Voice,

Restorationists, the Created, the Iron

Society, the Ranks of Fit, and Zoopremists.

The Sisterhood is well equipped to Tech

II standards but is always eager to gain

functioning Ancient technology. The Sisters are most often armed with swords,

spears, and crossbows. They prefer chain

mail armor and usually have some sort of

riding mount. There is a 30% chance that

each will have some sort of minor artifact.

The warrior elite are usually known as

Amazons, Valkyries, Black Widows, or

similar terms." 

What if the 'Sisterhood' is the militant arm of the The Sisters of the Aquarian Order ?! An organization hiding in plain sight with their upper edges of the orgnization's military arm actually being run by Magic Pig Media's Outerspace Raiders Amazons?! 

So why would these three organizations actually be one in the same?! Well there's one cause for that and it's war! The tenets of  The Sisters of the Aquarian Order  are well established when mankind get's cut off by the intergalatic war with the Hyperboreans. But the order suddenly finds itself facing a foe with access to technologies, magicks, and weaponry greater then it's own. And they turn inward creating cults, hidden cells of the sisters and stoking the fires of warriors in backwater colonies and other places. The sisters earn the grudging respect of the star knight but there is great distrust between these two. The war is over 200 or so years later but the sisterhood endures in pockets on Mars, Venus, Earth's colonies, and even aboard the Warden. The sisters will endure. 

Slumming on Mars - A White Star rpg , Warriors of The Red Planet & Hyperborea rpg Actual Play Event

 So on a Monday night there was a bit of a dust up as our normal group of players here in New Hartford. People love drama but this really wasn't drama per say. Nick one of our regular players brought a copy of an old White Star PC to our game. So out came a Randi Orr a 4th level rogue from Scum and Villainy by Omer Golan-Joel.  And this game picks up right from this blog entry here. 

And so Randy Orr got drafted into the Stellar Legion & we moved on deeper into the Martian city of Ignarh. The players wanted to know why there were a lot more alien races scattered across the city and what was the deal with varying tech levels within the old Martian city? So a bit of fast thinking on my part related that two hundred years ago mankind had FTL and had made great strides across the galaxy. And then the Hyperborean wars came devestated the galaxy but something happened to the Hyperboreans. The Hyperborean empire collapsed & only today has the galaxy began to recover. And most of this comes from the Hyperborea rpg & the recent review of the campaign setting  'Have Deathray Will Travel'.  The PC's are actually agents of the Stellar Legion. And they've been following up on the recent activity of the alien 'spiders' on Mars from Colonial Troopers. 

Sketching out our own version of Mars then things become a bit more murky as practicers of the 'Way' begin to appear in several Martian ruined temples, shrines, etc. with the Martian psionics taking full presidence over 'The Way'. So yes there are Red & Green Martian 'Way' practicers but thier rare. And then this gets into the Hyperborean ghettos where half Hyperboreans and their human followers are. A party's patron is actually here guarded by his bevy of Space Amazon nurses and bodyguards. Char rad Ro is a Hyperborean veteran kept alive by ancient technological secrets straight outta of Cheating Death. 

The player's PC's at the moment are asking around the main starport for the crew of the Goya's expediation. And things have been interesting because of the fact that the Goya was using a highly experimental FTL hyperspace drive. This drive would burn itself out after a few jumps and the Warden has aboard it the secrets of sustainable FTL. 
This is all being woven together on during play and the players are really into it. Into one bar they go where there's a crowd of Zeta assassins disguised as drovers looking for business while a group of green Martian warriors is gambling. Their black circle necromancer goes to talk with the Zeta assassins to hire one as a hireling. The PC's see their Aihais guides in the corner & they give a bit of a shudder because of the other Aihais are members of the Dweller cult. The Green Martians don't even give them a second glance. To them the Aihais are beneath contempt but there have been genocidal conflicts been the two Martian races. Zill the party's guide makes little small talk but gambles with Vody our party's soldier & leader. A price is arranged for the guide to take our party to the Green  psionic lamastry near the dead sea city of Korr. 
The party figures the monks may have insight into the location & fate of the Warden. But they also want to go back to their Hyperborean patron for more insight. 

Spider Infestation - A Warriors of The Red Planet & Hyperborea rpg - Actual Play Event

 " Deep in the wastelands near the dead city of Aaanthor a party of stawart adventurers plods their way through the ruins in search of artifacts belonging to a tribe of intelligent White Apes. The Stellar Legion has sent our intrepid team of adventurers & agents deep into the wastes of Mars looking for artifacts stolen from the tribe of  Green Martian Torquas in order to spark an interstellar war. "

So session account is going to pick back up from here.  And our player's PC found themselves in the city of Ignarh listening to the story of an NPC treasure hunter Jarret Minus  who got on the wrong side of a Green Martian Torquas warrior. The PC's  are a gang  of   Stellar Legion Hyperborean, Venusian,  Martian outlaws, adventurers, & veterans who have been looking for the at big score on Mars. But in actuality are a group of agents dealing with the colonial pressures of this version of Mars. And we've gone back to using a combination of Colonial Troopers, Mutant Future, the Hyperborean rpg Player's Guide, & Warriors of the Red Planet as the basis for this campaign. The player's PC's rented a flyer straight out of Ignarh & headed towards Aaanthor & they made it without incident! Taking a look around the deserted city they found piles of dead green Martians! And they ran straight into a swarm of deadly alien giant spiders! There are not supposed to be any Spru'sth on Mars. The planet has been settled for ages now. Sure there's the occasional frontier point. 

The player's PC's dropped the down & out adventurer act then went full psycho soldier on the spiders. 

The party then began blasting with laser crossbows, machine guns, and several plasma  grenades. And the party radioed for a pick up from a friendly flyer jockey who happened to be in the area. 

And then they arranged a meet up with the  Torquas Jeddak through the party's rogue princess. And the green warriors were beyond angry  through a combination of good rolls, bribry, and some concessions the party made headway. The player's then sent in three scouts including Sargent Wolf whose incharge of the other scouts to investigate the situation. 

Wolf mutant from Bronze Age Miniatures available here. 

And when the scouts infiltrated the ruined city they found there were signs of a queen. And then the green warrriors swarmed in with guns blazing. The rest of the party hung back as the Torquas took back their city. The party did a clean up sweep and played back up as the stronger green warriors made headway to take out the hive's queen. 

The party's cleric & black circle necromancer made several grisly discoveries including implanted colonists, several bio borgs, and other means of expanding the hive's terrority across the face of Mars. 
Is this going to be a one shot?! Recent reading up on several OSR game supplements convinced us to retry this style of play. But it remains to be seen if a post apocalyptic Mars game is going become a regular campaign again. 

Getting A More Lovecraftian Campaign Spin On Leigh Brackett's 'Shadow Over Mars'

" Rick Urquhart was going to conquer the turmoil-ridden planet of Mars. He was penniless and unknown, but there could be no doubt that he would rule the Red Planet-the ancient Martian mystic had made the prophecy, there was no way fate could cheat him of his prize.. "

When we begin looking into the lovely work of the far future of  the Terran Exploitation Company within the bounds of Startling Stories v11n02 [1944-Fall]'s Leigh Brackett's Shadow over Mars. Three things become evident. The Terran Exploitation Company are complete & utter bastards exploiting the ancient Martian races. This corporation is running absolutely scared & they have no idea of the extent of the Martian race's artifcial nature. All of this goes back to my original AS&SH campaign notes from Thursday, August 3, 2017 here on the blog. 

You can download
& read 'The Shadow Over Mars' Right Over Here. 

This one of Brackett's first Martian novels & you can see the plight of the Martians likened to the American Indians in the United States West. Brackett would go on to write a ton of Pulp Westerns. Brackett's Shadow over Mars brings home the fact that there's been race after race that goes back eons on the Red Planet. Her Martians fit John Carter into a pocket of the Martian royalty. Brackett's Martians are thieves, wizards, warriors, & the alleyway runners of an exploited planet. And their fighting for their very existence. 
Mars exploits the hard bitten bastards as her saviors making it a perfect canvas for a party of adventurers. Especially those of Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea. The Hyperboreans have their own part to play in the transformation of the solar system. 
The Terran Exploitation Company seems almost like the 'Company' of the classic 70's film Alien. Out to exploit the conquered planet at any means necessary but Mars has other plans. At some far distant point in the future of Old Earth the Hyperboreans returned according to Clark Ashton Smith's Hyperborea cycle & his Zothique cycles.

The humans of 'Shadow Over Mars' are solidly within the sleazy vein of Martian stories, the grungy New Town section with its stripper Venusian girls, 3-D cinemas, and various drug parlors are the perfect metaphor of the Earthman's coming to Mars.  The Terran Exploitation Company knows that their time is almost up & they are scrambling to get all they can outta of Mars as fast as possible. They are perfect rpg fodder to use Night Owl Workshop's Colonial Troopers to stand in as their forces. Mars is not going to give up all of its secrets easily. 

The Terran Exploitation Company knows that when the stars are right then Clark Ashon Smith's  Vulthoom  an alien 'god' (plant like) is going to awaken & then every Terran on Mars is deep trouble. They want to keep the peace with the current crop of Martians but when the new cycle begins they figure they can retreat back to Earth. But can they really?!