Forbidden Underworld Themes In Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea Second Edition Campaigns

Today I've spent a good deal of time delving in & out of Robert Howard's Conan story "The Man-Eaters of Zamboula" (or, as it was renamed, "Shadows in Zamboula") as well as Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea second edition.
This is mostly due to the upcoming Kickstarter launch for Corey Walden's AS&SH adventure "The Anthropophagi of Xambaala" this is an adventure with lots of extended campaign adventure play. Corey is well known among the OSR crowd & has done a number of OSR projects over the years. "Shadows in Zamboula" is pure Appendix N Weird Tales material & most likely this adventure will follow closely in the stories foot steps with Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea's own twist.



The cover artwork for  "The Anthropophagi of Xambaala" reminds me of an adventure  events continuation of B4 The Lost City classic adventure  by Tom Moldvay. If you haven't seen the 48-page "B4 campaign source book", a collection of mostly new material celebrating Tom Moldvay's "The Lost City" by Demos Sachlas.
The sourcebook contains some of the free amazing  following material : 

Retrospective: The Lost City
Memories of Tom Moldvay
About the Artist, from “The Art of Jim Holloway”
Printing History, with notes from the Acaeum
Origins of the Lost City
Worship of the Ancient Gods
The Cynidicean Mosaics
Holmes and the Lost City
Notes on the Underground City
Expanding the Adventure
New Monsters
The Emirates of Ylaruam
The DM’s Guide to Cynidicea
Review: “Mystara: Return to the Lost City”
Review: “Masque of Dreams” (including some previously unpublished artwork by Michael Kaluta!)
Review: “Elder Evils”
2013 Gen Con Championship

B4 The Lost City is a B/X Sword & Sorcery classic adventure and this source book only adds a bit more old school shine to it.


"Shadows in Zamboula"has its own merits with story events seemingly happening around Conan as well as too him. Much of this also happens to take place with adventuring parties within campaigns. Baal-pteor, the Strangler of Yajur is just the sort of an NPC character that a party of adventurers might run into if they're not careful in the seedy side of this incredibly dangerous  desert city. But something about Zamboula itself reminds me of the far future tales of Clark Ashton Smith's Zothique.

 Maybe its the emptiness of the Empire of the Necromancers, The (1932) story or the deadly weirdness of Charnel God, The (1934). But something about AS&SH's adventures have always held a bit of the old school Weird Tales darkness about them.


Cover of Weird Tales (November 1935): The feature story is Robert E. Howard's "Shadows in Zamboula".

These desert regions in pulps often guarded entrances to the Underworld of mythology. Often the rivers of the dead were featured in many pulp stories certainly there are echoes of this in CAS's Zothique & echoes of it in Jeffrey Talanian AS&SH' s Underborea. Is there such a region in this underworld location? I think so. Especially given some of the hints we've seen in the campaign world &  monster section of the Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea second edition game.
"In Greek and Indic mythology the waters of this river were thought to wash away sins or memories whereas Celtic and Germanic myths feature wisdom-imparting waters, suggesting that while the memories of the deceased are washed away a drinker of the waters would gain inspiration.^[3] The wayfarer will commonly encounter a dog either in the capacity of a guardian of the Otherworld or as the wanderer's guide.^[3] Examples of this are the Greek Cerberus, the three-headed hound of Hades, and the Indic सर्वरा "sarvarā, one of the hounds of Yama, whose names may derive from an Indo-European *ḱerberos meaning "spotted".^[3] In Indo-European mythologies the Otherworld is depicted in many ways, including peaceful meadows, islands and buildings making it hard to determine how the original Proto-Indo-European Otherworld was viewed.^[3] However the ruler of the dead was possibly Yemo, the divine twin of Manu the first man."
There may be darker hints to the fate of 'Old Earth' in AS&SH's underworld then first thought. Many of the most alien aspects of the game echo distant eons of the past as well as the future of Earth. Time is a very fluid concept to the gods & horrors of Hyperborea especially seen in CAS's Ubbo-Sathla (1933) &
Weird of Avoosl Wuthoqquan, The (1932).  Most likely "The Anthropophagi of Xambaala" is going to double down on these concepts and keep up the tradition of AS&SH modules. I look forward to the results of today's kickstarter.
You Can Back The Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea Second Edition Beasts & Cannibals Kickstarter Right Here

Third Wave OSR Western Retroclones, Boot Hill, & The Return of the Pulp Western For Your Old School Campaigns

I have a keen interest in post apocalyptic gaming as anyone who reads this blog well knows.The crossover point is of course the Western. The sweet spot are three areas the pulp western, dark fantasy western, and the horror western mixed in with a fair dose of science fantasy.  And lately I've been paying very close attention to the re emergence of the Western rpg in OSR circles because of certain writers in the OSR. Namely the retroclone Tombstone (Alpha Version) By Corey Walden  which has a ton of potential because of its background as a sort of clone of  Boot Hill third edition with lots tweaks by the author to make it solid. You can get a free play test version of his game right over HERE .

Then of course there's DCC's excellent swords and sorcery six gun fanzine, Black Powder, Black Magic which I've heard nothing but good things about the zine from everyone that's gotten into it. There's a ton of potential for near retroclone crossover potential for Crawling Under A Broken Moon with this other resource for DCC.

What really kicked this off today was Mike 'Wraith of Zombie' Evans writing up a copy of High Noon. Apparently its a weird west style OSR game and it looks really nicely done. Very much in keeping with the DYI mentality of  OD&D style Westerns. According to him there are several PC Classes, "Here are the Weird Classes: Knight of Faith, Shaman, Sorcerer, and Weird Scientist.  Oh and if you want to come back from the dead- well here’s that too." You can find that whole package on his blog right over HERE

There's also the OSRIC retroclone system Revolvers & Wizardry: The Discordant West (MOBI) From Usherwood Publishing  Which has a sort of Weird West playing options for your OSRIC high-fantasy campaign. Basically you can bring clerics, magic users, rangers and thieves to the wild west to face off in showdowns against minotaur cowboys, half-gnoll NPCs or even against the likes of the notorious Jesse James.

There is also the free retroclone system called Go For Your Gun which is one of my favorite Western systems. This system has eleven character classes and some of the better put together systems. This is a great system to play with. Lots of fun and very pulpy material in the game. Did I mention this is free.



Ok, my own experiences with Western old school rpgs goes back to Boot Hill 2nd edition which I became roped into by friends & family. My dad has a keen interest in Westerns and his friends got me involved & taught me the crossover potential with all of the other AD&D 1st edition games. I was late to the party on this game but we played the hell out of this game. Nothing was safe from the group I was involved in, Gamma World, AD&D, & Boot Hill blended together especially with the material from early Dragon Magazine. To say nothing of Metamorphosis Alpha 1st edition.

The intro is what got me interested in the game,
"You step from the cool shade of the Long Branch Saloon into the midday heat of Promise City. Loosening your Colt in its bolster, you look down Main Street and spot the leather and denim-clad stranger who called you out. Citizens of the town scramble for cover as they sense the forthcoming battle. The outlaw doesn't look fast enough to match your draw, but... wait! Your keen eyes catch the unmistakable glint of the sun against gun metal from the roof of the dance hall - the yellow coward has a buddy who's going to shoot you in the back! What will you do? Think fast, or you'll be the next resident of... BOOT HILL!" The Lost Conquistador mine became part of the underworld that connected to any number of campaigns for me over the years. We've used this module again & again to connect with various game worlds over the years.

Today Trey of Dream's From The Sorcerer's Skull fame  has put up a review of the new Kurt Russell movie Bone Tomahawk and has begun to tick off my Western bug again. This is a very vicious and yet entertaining film according to friends who have seen it. This is probably the Western horror film that would lend itself to a Lamentations of the Flame Princess adventure.


So for me this film signals the return to the pulp Western into the mainstream and I have to think we're going to see a ton of new Western retroclones into the wild. I have to say that I'm curious to see what comes down the pike. There are some other great Westerns that I've seen coming down into the mainstream. I now can't wait to see this one!

Review & Commentary on Free The OD&D Cacozealot Class By Corey Ryan Walden For Your Old School Campaigns

With the Fall sweeping in to New England I'm looking into more horror themed  and unusual OD&D racial PC options.


 

GRAB IT RIGHT
HERE

Cacozealot racial class is a really nice half demon/half fairy PC class from the pen of Corey Ryan Walden. I've been looking for a low powered but highly dangerous race to throw into my games. This is it; the Cacozealot  has many of the powers, abilities, and minor skills that a pre Flood monster that I'm looking for a Fall sword and sorcery campaign.

All minis featured in this overview are from Reaper right over HERE

For a sword and sorcery this class adds the hint of corruption just bubbling under the surface of such PC's. You get a whole range of possibilities without sacrificing the awesome even as the heritage of weirdness and horrors roils under the surface of the PC race. There's plenty of pulpy weirdness in this class that can bridge the gap  between a sword & sorcery campaign and a modern horror investigation game using the OD&D engine for horror adventures. The class is balanced, well done, and does not use  a mishmash of ideas and concepts from its writer's pen but pulls in his ideas into a coherent whole that is very useful at the gaming table.

I can see using this racial class as all kinds of infernal muscle in alternative world  historical Nineteen Forties game campaigns where half demon mobs and mafias run the gamut and clash in the shadows. Applying these sorts of modern conceits though for a more modern OD&D game a DM might want to visit the OSR Library.  This class could also be used for dealing with the horrors of the underworld. More on on that coming up.
All in all this class makes an excellent addition to a DM's library of tools and options for players to choose from for their games.


For an unusual racial PC class for OD&D the Cacozealot  makes a welcome addition to the DM's OD&D menu of PC options. For a free PC option Corey did a great job with this.

Reveiw & Commentary On The Cliff-lair of Heeter Adventure By Corey Ryan Walden For Your Old School Campaigns

The Cliff-Lair of Heeter is a mini-adventure for 4-10 characters of 1st-3rd levels. It is compatible with the 1974 edition of the world's most popular fantasy role-playing game, or a similar retroclone. This is a mid point adventure for 1st and a mid level adventure for 2nd level PC's who are threading their way to 3rd level. This adventure clocks in at twelve pages of science fantasy style adventure encounters. It sells for two dollars of high test but well balanced old school encounter adventure fun.
GRAB IT RIGHT OVER HERE 

Much of the action reminds me of a old school mid- Fifties Weird Tales or pulpy science fantasy adventure.

 The Cliff-lair of Heeter By Corey Ryan Walden is a two dollar mid level adventure that covers a particularly weird & dangerous adventure location & situation. Do I think its worth the price of admission? Yes, yes I do. As a beginning level adventure  The Cliff-lair of Heeter By Corey Ryan Walden packs plenty of old school thrills and action into a small package of awesomeness. The plot reads like something from an old school fanazine; A local tale whispers of a strange sorcerer who has dwelt in the cliffs and crags for centuries. During that time savage lightning has illumined the skies and valleys, seemingly at the bidding of this enigmatic figure. More recently there have been even more bizarre stories. Horses stolen by blue-skinned men for unseemly purposes — disrupting trade and traumatizing travelers. You have heard these disturbing stories, whether they be founded in truth or fiction. But one question remains: will you brave the journey to the crags?
This is a great adventure with lots of potential that can be used with OD&D, Labyrinth Lord as well as Swords and Wizardry and other old school retroclones. Believe it or not this is a gonzo adventure that doesn't actually go over the top. It does exactly what it says on the tin. Encounters here are balanced, strange with classic bits with  actual plot points that bring the PC's right into the middle of the weird action. 

Monsters are strange and classically original to the adventure even as death lurks around every corner. Given the old school feel of the adventure there's lots happening in this twelve pages. And this adventure could be used as a link up point for another of the author's adventure's in this case in the form of the free adventure Black Ruins. Both of these adventures could be easily linked up to form the basis for as sword and sorcery old school campaign. There's plenty of room for the DM to expand several of the bits and pieces into fully developed campaign adventure elements as they see fit.



There's a certain alien old world sense to the  The Cliff-lair of Heeter By Corey Ryan Walden which reading through it makes me want to run a cast of beginning level PC's through the entire adventure over an evening or two's play time.  Because it clocks in at twelve pages the adventure is perfectly set up for a convention set of play and is well worth the two dollar price tag. There's lots of old school alien sorcerer action here. Look do yourselves a favor and grab this one on Lulu.

Caturday Free OSR Download - OD&D Werecat Class By Corey Ryan Walden

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So I've been looking around for something different and interesting for as much as my own amusement as anything else. I love OD&D by default, and this morning I stumbled across Corey Ryan Walden's OD&D Werecat Class.  I really love the idea of an OD&D spell casting were cat class, it seems balanced right on the outset. There are several venues where I can see laying this class down right off the top my head. Grabbing it and throwing it into the outskirts of the Hallow World campaign  There are plenty of lost world shape shifting bits of excitement for this class to be plugged right into there. There are several other possibilities as well. For a Lamentations of the Flame Princess lost world game this is a great NPC or PC class to plug right into a game.

Reaper mini available right over Here
Now for me, this class might work for Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea as a PC class but I would generate stats using the AS&SH game and conform the PC class as needed. But I haven't tried this out so your mileage may vary. On the whole however I do think that this class could work very well as an addition to either Swords & Wizardry or Labyrinth Lord but check your level progression as necessary. I personally think that this class adds a bit of that old school Marvel Conan without sacrificing too much of the supernatural element of Weird Tales.

With a bit of work this class might also be used as a black magick style NPC class of very dangerous aspect. Add in some black magick spells, a few dark aspects and you've got the makings of a vile villain of a horrid aspect. There has been a long tradition of just this sort of a villain in horror comics going all the way back the golden age of comics in the Forties.
Applying these sorts of modern conceits though for a more modern OD&D game a DM might want to visit the OSR Library.


Another option would be to use the were cat class as another option for a White Star game as alien other worldly race as class type to keep things really interesting. All in all think that there's a ton of uses for this class

Commentary on The Free OSR Tombstone (Alpha Playtest) Rpg System By Corey Ryan Walden

So Western Rpg's are slated to become the next big thing in the OSR and I've played Boot Hill over the years with Gamma World because of the AD&D 1st edition appendixes and all of that. Now Corey Ryan Walden, whose one of  the smartest and cunning young writers I've know has thrown his hat in the Western retroclone ring. Look there have been a other OSR retroclone products before but this is an Alpah Test of  what I think is a very good set of intuitive and interesting retroclone rules. And its freely available right now.
Do yourselves a favor and go get it right over HERE

This is an alpha version of the rules but from what I'm seeing here this is a fifty seven page love of the genre with some very intreresting bits and pieces under the hood. Corey has been quietly dealing with this book for a couple of months on the side and it shows. He's got something very good here and its interesting to see where DM's and players take this. The PC creation is as fast as B/X and there are a few interesting options. The inclusion of fire arms into a setting makes this a gritty and interesting choice for a DM who wants a fast pick up Old West Style game. This game could emulate everything from 1950's Westerns to the gritty neo Gothic of Dark Tower by Stephen King but it would take some work.
This rpg is a work of love and the man has poured a lot of ideas into its black box and there needs a bit more work to flesh out the backgrounds and setting material but what's here is solid in my opinion. There needs a bit more meat on the bones but the interesting thing about Westerns is that the gunfighters are often the monsters. And the more colorful the NPC's then the more of a good time that the players will have with their PC's. Much of what Corey has done is take rules, ideas, & strip everything back down to basics. All in all this is a fine out of the gate set of OSR rules that while in the Alpha stage has the potential to be a very solid game if things keep going with it. Personally I'd love to see this used for a wide variety of settings and applications. My recommendation is to download, grab it, and take a look at where Corey's going with his vision for this game. Then by all means give the man some solid feedback on it!
Corey please pal keep up on your writing and designing pal, this is looking very tasty indeed.

Review & Commentary On The Free OSR Download NPC Toolkit Tables By Corey Ryan Walden For Your Old School Campaigns

Do you need a fast and reliable way of creating excellent NPC's in a timely and pro DM style? Need it with all of those nagging details filled in for you with the flick of the dice? Well once again we've got Corey Ryan Walden bringing the awesome with a full set of charts that can bring all of those things to life for you in one go and their free.
Grab It Right Over HERE

Everything from appearance, disposition, to professions is right there for download and its done very well.
The material gives an almost instant thumbnail portrait of your NPC for your own nefarious purposes in your own game campaign.

This download has a myriad of uses and can be used right across the board with any old school rpg, from OD&D to advanced editions and any of their retro-clone rpg systems. There's a ton of uses for this material, its free and can be used right across into your games. Corey does an excellent job with his material and this project of his is no exception. Grab this one and start rolling up your own NPC's and get them into the game as you see fit. This is one sweet little download. Grab it and give your campaign a solid old school injection of NPC's action.

Review and Commentary On The Free OSR Adventure Resource The Black Ruins By Corey Walden For Your Old School Campaigns

There are adventures that come across your email and news feed that just make you go whoa. This is the case with Corey Ryan Walden who knows his stuff. This is min campaign hex crawl and dungeon delve in twelve pages. The sucker clocks itself with dripping quasi 80's sword and sorcery adventure vibrations.
The sucker has a plot line that could have dropped out of one of back page adds right out of the Strategic Review or Dragon. It might also been lifted by Hollywood for a nice sword and sorcery flick that you'd rent from the video rental place.
Check it out :
Blackened esoteric obelisks, henceforth known among most folk as ‘The Yore Standing Stones’, dot a strangely unnatural hill. The runes are inscribed with runic scripting, but it is what looms below the forlorn hill that should chill any good serf to the bone.

GRAB IT FOR FREE RIGHT OVER HERE

This is a pretty well balanced piece by Corey and gives the DM a little bit of everything & as a DM whose used to running Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea this is a great addition for that game or any OSR game in my humble opinion. This adventure has good solid overview with the hex laying everything at the DM's feet. Really its all right at the DM's finger tips ready to run straight from download to print out. You get a scattering of locations with some nice sword and sorcery styled encounters. These look pretty nicely balanced. This isn't a high powered crawl but one perfect for outlaws and warriors to cut their teeth on. Several elements from AS&SH could easily be added to this adventure to tie it right in to Hyperborea. The bits and pieces of the setting material allow this one to easily be added right into an OD&D game with little issue. The details here are solidly done but generic enough to allow back customizing & DYI D&D to any campaign setting but this adventure screams Sword and Sorcery to me.
There's something very cinematic or weirdly pulptastic about the whole affair of 'The Black Ruins'. The adventure has both a lost world vibe and a dungeon from hell thing going on. This makes it a very appealing dungeons and dragons adventure but with some really nice overtones of the classic era happening throughout the adventure. There are elements of the lethal in several places and the DM should take care to see the whole affair comes across with a sense of how deadly and lethal this romp can be.
The maps give a real element of old school charm, everything is serviceable and easily adapted to your favorite old school rules sets and its a nice set up for a heroes journey given in D&D terms. With a bit of work this adventure could be used as a Lamentations of The Flame Princess dimensional journey for beginning PC's with a real twist into a weird lost world style gambit as well. The whole adventure screams weekend or mini campaign to me. Its very well done for a free module and the author knows his material enough to adapt it across the board to a number of old school systems. I have to say that in twelve pages Corey manages to compact and condense a very interesting and contrasting series of elements into one very well done old school adventure.
So is this adventure worth your time for a download? Yes if your into sword and sorcery adventure with an old school flare. This is a nice weekend or mini campaign that can be stretched around a few sessions of your favorite old school D&D or retroclone rpg system. Four out of five in my opinion because of the nature of the adventure and how it works with the 

The Free OSR downloads of Corey Ryan Walden For Your Old School Campaigns

If your looking for a good solid set of OSR downloads then look no further then Corey Ryan Walden's material. You won't find a better set of old school town materials for your campaigns. The gentleman has generously supplied his materials for free and their perfect for your retroclone or old school needs. 

Check them out right over 

HERE