Winter Stockade KS 24 HOURS Left for "Special Edition Module #1: Goblin Raid on the Winter Stockade" By Mark Taormino From Dark Wizard Games For Your Old School Campaigns

 "The holiday season is in peril! The jolly workshop of Santa Claus has been invaded by a horde of mischievous goblins, led by the evil, gluttonous, and greedy Snarfle Waddlebelly! This vile goblin boss and his goons have turned the magical stockade into an evil dungeon, stealing enchanted toys, festive treasures, and the very essence of holiday cheer itself. The local village has assembled a team of brave adventurers to breach the snow-laden walls of the Winter Stockade, navigate its frosty halls, and confront that fat bastard and his mischievous gang of minions! The fate of the holiday lies in your hands as you rescue Santa and his friends, restoring order and the spirit of the season to the world. Amazing riches, a chance to get on the "nice" list for once, a few awesome toys, and the joy of millions of children hang in the balance if you can you save Christmas from the Goblin Raid on the Winter Stockade!"

"Special Edition Module #1: Goblin Raid on the Winter Stockade" By Mark Taormino is a great first level adventure that can easily transport your old school  adventuring party to a Winter wonderland of violence and horror. 
This is a great special edition module to transport your party into the middle of a series of adventures that centers around trying to save the Holiday season. 
And it's a great module for introducing the PC's into  the evil, gluttonous, and greedy Snarfle Waddlebelly!

There are brand new treasures, adventure locations, and plenty of tricks and holiday themed traps to get your adventurers in the middle of the holiday fueled action. 
Because this is a first level adventure this is a perfect touch stone to launch your campaigns with. 
Get the PC's deeply involved in your campaign's holiday Winter wonderland and then try to murder them in it! "Special Edition Module #1: Goblin Raid on the Winter Stockade" By Mark Taormino is in my mind an excellent adventure for Castles & Crusades. You've got all of the classic elements holiday mayhem, hidden locations, holiday themed violence, old school goblins, dungeon crawls  and more. 

"Special Edition Module #1: Goblin Raid on the Winter Stockade" is perfect for C&C because it encapsulates the sense of whimsy and danger that C&C embodies. There's plenty of serious dungeon crawling but there's also an old school feel of dangerous  whimsy that many C&C adventures have. This is why Mark Taormino's adventures play so well with C&C. So get in on the action with "Special Edition Module #1: Goblin Raid on the Winter Stockade". Time is running out! 

OSR Commentary - Christmas Chaos With Special Edition Modules #1 Goblin Raid On The Winter Stockade Kickstarter

 

  "The holiday season is in peril! The jolly workshop of Santa Claus has been invaded by a horde of mischievous goblins, led by the evil, gluttonous, and greedy Snarfle Waddlebelly! This vile goblin boss and his goons have turned the magical stockade into an evil dungeon, stealing enchanted toys, festive treasures, and the very essence of holiday cheer itself. The local village has assembled a team of brave adventurers to breach the snow-laden walls of the Winter Stockade, navigate its frosty halls, and confront that fat bastard and his mischievous gang of minions! The fate of the holiday lies in your hands as you rescue Santa and his friends, restoring order and the spirit of the season to the world. Amazing riches, a chance to get on the "nice" list for once, a few awesome toys, and the joy of millions of children hang in the balance if you can you save Christmas from the Goblin Raid on the Winter Stockade!" 

 Mark Taormino of Dark Wizard Games has come up with thier 'Special Edition modules' #1 Goblin Raid on the Winter Stockade  which are collectable models that fall outside the normal range of OSR products. And this is a perfect module for a Christmas themed rpg mini campaign especially for Castles & Crusades! Why?! Because eveything is already set up for your player's PC's to dive into the mix! 

 Castles & Crusades is a great rpg vehicle for 'Special Edition modules' #1 Goblin Raid on the Winter Stockade  because the system easily accomidates every encounter, monster, etc. that this adventure sets out to play through. This is a legendary module with the PC's saving Santa and his workshop. You know that it's going to be complete Christmas Chaos! 

Dark Wizard games does an excellent job of bringing that Chaos to your table top with new monsters, encounters and horrors. Knowing the guys at Dark Wizard this module is going to have plenty of opportunities to customize this adventure to allow the DM to bring home the horror of the holidays. 

The Borderlands Campaign - The Sinister Stone of Sakkara- Session One Report

 Go to sit in on a Castles & Crusades game of  "The Sinister Stone of Sakkara" & my Dwarvian Priest PC Mikia Mechanicus  got a chance to meet up with the party outside of the Greco Roman style desert fortress of Türos Tem. The regular  merchant caravans from the nearby town of Siadanos have come under attack! And so after doing a bit of recon and shopping. We laid in for the night and got a feel for the fortress & nearby villages. And we noticed several signs of increased beastmen & Chaos activity. All of this connects up with what I wrote about on the blog here back on August 22. 
 

And it's this connection that conerns us as players & DM's. There's a threat of the Lovecraftian within the "The Sinister Stone of Sakkara" that harkens around the cults of Chaos. These cults have been spreading across the world without mercy or end. There's been little to stop the corruption or the Chaos. 
And much of this connects with the musings of Brian Young's Castles & Crusades Codex Classicum which we used for gods, equipment, etc. in today's game. 

During today's game the party got caught in a sand storm and came faced to face with a party of gnolls just outside of one of the raided villages! Chaos itself is centered on destroying the pseudo-Roman empire keep in an Ancient Egyptian/Mesopotamian culture war. We were able to find this out after questioning one of the gnoll warriors that we managed to capture. 
He turned out to be one of the bodyguards of the local Chaos priests. The gnoll warrior turned on our knight of Horus The Avenger. But took him out before he had a chance to bite his throat out. We went back to the fortress to spend the night and rest up. 
We have yet to come across any sign of the copper rings from  "Stains upon the Green". 

S7 Stains Upon The Green, Adventurer, Conqueror, King Rpg, & the Borderlands Campaign - The Red Tide & Dark Wizard games module number #6 The Moving Maze of the Mad Master!

 

So let's pick up from right back here on the blog. And let's talk about the Red Tide setting for a moment which is for a Labyrinth Lord campaign with a sorta East Asian flavor. And this setting could easily be tied into both  "Stains upon the Green"' & Dark Wizard games module number #6 The Moving Maze of the Mad Master! DW#6 is actually an island encounter with the PC's with mad master's maze infront and red mist at their backs! 

With Red Mist decimating many of the lands & islands surround the mainland. The mad master has taken full advantage of this by stealing into the domains & lands of the Dwarves. And making out with many of thier ancient constructs & constructions. Not only this but the villainous bastard may have in point of fact mastered the highly dangerous copper rings of  "Stains upon the Green". This brings things full circle where the Dwarven nations have lost everything. 

Last blog entry we mentioned X1 The Isle of Dread.  And I said ,'Now imagine for a moment that the Red Mist threatens X1 The Isle of Dread. '

Well imagine it because this ties in with the isle being on the border of the plane of water.The red tide is both a chaos and paraelemental forces of nature. And our mad master has been using his knowledge of the pheneomana and mechanisms to pluck players from across the planes for his maze. And if he's on an island surrounded by the red mist then he's got a captive audience for his maze. 
But there's far more too it then that. The forces of Chaos have no idea what they've unleashed and the Shui from the Red Tide setting are in dire straits. Not only are the humanoids in trouble but they can come under the influence of the red mist itself. Once this happens they are completely lost! Lost to the Chaos influence that the red mist represents.  This corruption goes back to the fact that the forces of Chaos from B2 Keep on the Borderlands By Gary Gygax have no idea of what they've unleashed on the world. 
And this comes down to the mythology not only in Red Tide but also could in point of fact threaten not only this world but Earth or other plane Primes as well!  And only those Dwarves who have come from thier holds and been taught the information in By This Axe: The Cyclopedia of Dwarven Civilization. Some of these Dwarves who are in the Red Tide setting have been broken and represent a huge threat to anyone they run across. 

The mad master represents an external threat to the PC's. But the red tide represents a universal threat to existence. And why complete Dark Wizard games module number #6 The Moving Maze of the Mad Master? Because of the fact that because the mad master took full advantage of the Dwarven magic technology it may have the answers the player's PC's seek to fully stop the red mist or not?! Then there's the fact that if the PC's use the Dwarven gate they might stumble upon the secret that copper gates represent leading them into the backdrop of S4 The Dwarven Glory. 
We'll get into the hows & why's next time and how this module ties into the Borderlands! 

S7 Stains Upon The Green, Adventurer, Conqueror, King Rpg, & the Borderlands Campaign - The Red Tide Comes Rolling In

 "Stains upon the Green"'s copper rings might lead to other places and circumstands. And one of these might well be into dire trouble. Imagine stepping through the rings and landing on an island someplace in the middle of nowhere. 

Back about two years ago I got deeply involved in a Red Tide campaign that DM Steve a friend of mine and fellow DM was running. Now once again I've been thinking about the Latter Earth setting from the  Worlds Without Number rpg and my recent brush with "The Sinister Stone of Sakkara".

Red Tide is a sort of a post apocalpytic island crawl, and it got me thinking about the idea that the campaign setting of Worlds Without Number is actually tied into 'Red Mist'. The 'red mist' has devoured sections of the world and what's left behind is not pretty. Now imagine for a moment that the Red Mist threatens X1 The Isle of Dread. 

Now let's take this island hopping campaign idea further afield for a moment. That only Dwarves of 'noble' linage know what's going on with the Red Mist. And this could in point of fact threaten not only this world but Earth or other plane Primes as well! 

The reed tide could potentially be the 'real threat' and the forces of Chaos know this! And they've been planning on bringing this horror rolling into the campaign world. And we've got the Dwarves who are the only ones who know a. what it is & b.what lurks in the depths of the red mist. 
And this also showcases the fact that Castles & Crusades could be used as the basis OSR system here. And it's here where the DM could turn things on thier ear by doing an island hopping campaign and have the PC's come across Dark Wizard games module number #6 The Moving Maze of the Mad Master! DW#6 is actually an island encounter with the PC's with mad master's maze infront and red mist at their backs! 
More on this one next time when we tie all of this together! 

S7 Stains Upon The Green, Adventurer, Conqueror, King Rpg, & the Borderlands Campaign - Castles & Crusades & Adventurer,Conqueror,King Rpg

 Its been extra busy at my day job and so this blog entry is a bit late today. And add to that I've had to go out as well. And this blog entry is going to pivot on yesterday's here. 

When it comes to Adventurer, Conqueror, King, Rpg the levels are similar to Moldvay/Cook. And this makes it easier to deal with when converting back and forth with Castles & Crusades. Where do I know this from Tim Brannon of the Otherside blog entry from June 12th of course; " Adventurer Conqueror King System also limits characters in terms of levels.  While AS&SH goes to 12, ACKs tops off at 14.  ACKs is also closer to my favorite version of D&D, Moldvay Basic/Cook-Marsh Expert.  In fact all three systems do work pretty well together.  In fact I tend to think of the world used in ACKs as being just a little "south" of the world in AS&SH.  I have not spent as much time with ACKs as the other games, but what I have played I do like." And all three systems work very well with Castles & Crusades. And yes, I do realize that ACKII is going be hiting kickstarer any day according to Autarch's twitter account; "A playtester of ACKS II has written a detailed write-up of his thoughts about the game. It's the sort of review that makes a game designer feel the pain was all worth it. Check it out here:

https://reddit.com/r/Autarch/comments/15xs8qm/1e2emy_experiences_so_far/?share_id=F8i8f6ms7Fa8mwGHPpaZE…" 

Back to the task at hand here, which is the fact that C&C & ACK's can work well together as an OSR combo pack. There are few factors here to consider. The levels of both games top out at about 13 or 14th.  And both games even though are OSR they have totally different end games. 
With this in mind is the fact that C&C has some excellent adventure modules that can be used with ACK's Mesopamian/Roman setting especially 

Castles & Crusades A1 Assault on Blacktooth Ridge

And this goes right into line with ACK's Borderlands campaign setting. And it comes right into play with Gry Gygax's B2 Keep on the Borderlands. A1 could be theoritically be set on the norther part of the Borderlands kingdoms. 

And the forces of A1 could well be linked as another series of agents of Chaos that have been put into play from within to destablize the Borderland kingdoms themselves. 
And this plays back into an idea that was born out  because Choas been setting this up for years now with Chaos monsters and agents endless sewing discord in the smaller hamlets and areas. Case in point is  Mark Taormino's Maximum Mayhem Dungeons #0 Village of the Borderlands. Here is where the humanoids begin to become a real issue. 

Chaos setting itself up for a protracted gorilla war within the Borderland kingdoms could in essence be the start with a huge war with Chaos itelf. Perhaps the 'abandoned'  Dwarven City in Stains on the Green is actualy a trap left by Chaos forces within the Borerlands to keep the PC's guessing or to end them or other adventurers like them. 
This harkens back to Dwarven legends from ACK's

By This Axe: The Cyclopedia of Dwarven Civilization

. 

S7 Stains Upon The Green, Adventurer, Conqueror, King Rpg, & the Borderlands Campaign - The Sinister Stone of Sakkara

 Sometimes one has to come at a campaign ass backwards. And in this case it's with "The Sinister Stone of Sakkara" By  Matthew Skail, & Alexander Macris. And this picks up from here on the blog. Clocking in at eighty pages AX1 The Sinister Stone of Sakkara is an introductory adventure for the Adventurer,Conqueror, King system hearkening back to classic TSR era B/X adventures such as Keep of The Borderlands.

And it's this connection that conerns us as players & DM's. There's a threat of the Lovecraftian within the "The Sinister Stone of Sakkara" that harkens around the cults of Chaos. These cults have been spreading across the world without mercy or end. There's been little to stop the corruption or the Chaos. 
Chaos grows unchecked without pattern or rhyme or so it seems and yet if we look deeper;"For over a century, the stronghold of Türos Tem has guarded the borderlands from the beastmen of the wild lands beyond. Now, despite the ever-watchful eye of Türos Tem’s guards, beastmen raiders have somehow gained a foothold in the Viaspen Forest to the north, from which they have begun striking at the nearby settlements. Local farms and hamlets have been sacked and pillaged, and entire families have gone missing." 
Chaos itself is centered on destroying the pseudo-Roman empire keep in an Ancient Egyptian/Mesopotamian culture that they have yet conquer. And the keep itself in "The Sinister Stone of Sakkara" can serve as a microcosmic reflection of the themes of the decline of the Dwarves within "Stains upon the Green". 

But there's a doorway between the keeps & the power of civilization represented by the PC's through the 'Rings of Brass';" Rings of Brass, magical portals that lead to dwarven roads carved through the planes. It is specifically designed for use in bridging the Lands of Ursal in Aihrde with the Free City of Eskadia in the Haunted Highlands." And it's through the 'Rings of Brass' that the PC's are going to win! How?! 

Stains Upon The Green, Adventurer, Conqueror, King Rpg, & the Borderlands Campaign - Cults of Chaos

 Let's pick it up on the blog right from here. And we've got Europe in tatters Chaos is on the ascendency. Where does this leave the humans?! Well with one group of humanity it leaves them in Chaos's grip in this case with the cults of Chaos. Dark Albion: Cults of Chaos is perfect for this adventure inclusion especially if it's coupled with B2 Keep on the Borderland By Gary Gygax. 

We go back to 'Caves of Chaos' and instead of the usual humanoids we incorporate Chaos monsters right out of Random Esoteric Creature Generator for Classic Fantasy Role-Playing Games and Their Modern Simulacra.
These humanoids are 'charmed' by the magic of the Caves of Chaos. The second that they leave the caverns they are fully under the influence of Chaos. 

This is only the start of it as the agents of Chaos have been sewing discord across Europe. Because items and relics of Chaos have been planted in temples, shrines, etc. across the continent. This ties in with  Mark Taormino's Maximum Mayhem Dungeons #0 Village of the Borderlands. Agents causing mayhem across your campaign using either ACK's, Lamentations, or even Castles & Crusades. Eruope is literally going to be in flames at this point. Or so it seems and here's where the humanoid forces start to raid deep into Europe, France, Spain, Germany, Etc. Why?

Because they've been setting this up for years now with Chaos monsters and agents endless sewing discord in the smaller hamlets and areas. Case in point is  Mark Taormino's Maximum Mayhem Dungeons #0 Village of the Borderlands. Here is where the humanoids begin to become a real issue. 

If there are human agents within the Cults of Chaos then your going to suddenly begin seeing them surging out to help in the humanoid Chaos armies 'divine' cause. In the middle of all of this the Elven warriors, wizards and leaders are preparing the way! 

And the only hope may in point of fact lay within  the lead from Stains upon the Green's abandoned Dwarven city straight into Dark Wizard's #4 Vault of the Dwarven King. The PC's are going to have to parley with the Dwarves and thier knowledge of the rise of Chaos! 

Stains Upon The Green, Adventurer, Conqueror, King Rpg, & the Borderlands Campaign

 When it comes to 'Secrets of the Nethercity'  has some great intercity tombs & twisting dungeon halls throughout. The fact that Secrets of the Nethercity is a part of the Capital of the Borderlands seldom gets mentioned among ACK's and OSR folks. And while thier not exclusive to the use of each other in the past our group have used the Elves as a part of the head of the Chaos moment within our Borderlands campaign And this is right in the by line of the 'Secrets to The Nethercity' description; "Cyfaraun is a city of ancient lineage. The name itself is an Auran corruption of its original elven name, Cyfarawn. Evidence of elven construction is still visible in the city’s oldest district, today called Old Cyfaraun. Many city residents know that Old Cyfaraun was founded atop an earlier settlement – Ancient Cyfaraun, buried by cataclysmic ashes over 500 years ago.

Only the most illustrious sages are aware that the Ancient City was itself built over an even deeper ruin, a Forgotten Cyfaraun, a city brought low by an earthquake almost 2,000 years ago. Forgotten Cyfaraun was reduced to rubble but its lasting legacy is a hidden Nethercity, a treacherous place of twisting tunnels, dusty catacombs, and black, volcanic caves that waits, forgotten and unplumbed - until now…"

And this goes back into one of the bits about ACK's adventure modules that I love. The modular nature of ACK's as a product line. You as the DM can fit them into your campaign as you like. Alexander Marcus isn't standing over your shoulder telling you that your doing it wrong. And in point of fact encourages DM's to exclore the ACK's system at thier own pace. The Sinister Stone of Sakkara plugs into 'Secrets of the Nethercity'  rather nicely & a party could backdoor into the adventure or play through quite nicely. And here's where I'd plug in B2 Keep on the Borderlands with it's fortress and the Chaos sympathizers and turn coat NPC's. 

Run B2 with either ACK's or Lamentations of the Flame Princess as per usual with black powder weapons being rare. The Orcs might have the occasional matchlock or flint lock but thier incredibly rare. The PC's take over the keep per usual and expand into the caves of Chaos. Events take a definitely sinister tone or twist here. 
Replace the humanoids of the Caves of Chaos with Chaos monsters right out of Random Esoteric Creature Generator for Classic Fantasy Role-Playing Games and Their Modern Simulacra. Then stand back and watch the 'fun'. That hermit suddenly becomes a whole lot more important. 
This ties in with  Mark Taormino's Maximum Mayhem Dungeons #0 Village of the Borderlands. Agents causing mayhem across your campaign using either ACK's, Lamentations, or even Castles & Crusades.

And these events tie into this blog entry here & we could even use Lion & Dragon or Dark Albion to give a slight more grounded series of Chaos cults that have been going across Europe and destablizing regions to make them ripe for total Chaos to reign. 

And this goes back into  the lead from Stains upon the Green's abandoned Dwarven city straight into Dark Wizard's #4 Vault of the Dwarven King. Chaos wants to seize control of the terror weapon of the Dwarves the Lava Elemental. And for this I'd grab  Adventurer,Conqueror, King's By This Axe for all of the Dwarven details.
The PC's would really need to seize the reigns of power to steer Europe away from total collapse. 

Campaign Commentary On The Free Adventure Crossroads of Chaldén By Vince Puccio, Leon Baradat, and Rene Baradat & B2 Keep on The Borderlands

 "The Crossroads of Chalden are near the barbarian lands of snow and ice. The people are gruff and suspicious of outsiders, and to folk from other lands they seem introverted and superstitious. This Dragonsfoot publication is a ready-to-play module with an introduction to a new world for First Edition Dungeons & Dragons. Plenty of information to flesh out the world in which Chalden lies, or to place it within the World of Greyhawk. Included is also helpful hints for new DMs in how to run and adjudicate the module. An AD&D adventure for Characters Levels 2-3." 

So what's going on here? LB1 Crossroads of Chaladen is perfect Sword & Sorcery compaign mid point module but what's actually going on here? According to the introduction; "The local population has a special aversion to thieves, since the region has been plagued by bandits for years. Typically, those here aren’t the "stealthy handyman" type that would join in an adventure, but more the "evil cutthroat" variety. Thieves in the party will be left alone, however, as they are in the king’s service. Two centuries ago, bands of outlaws roamed the countryside of the old Kingdom of Chaldén, robbing and murdering at will. The king was forced to hire additional men to protect his lands; he roused the population and with a small army of peasants and men-at-arms managed to wipe out most of the bandits. Those who avoided destruction were forced into hiding deep in the wilderness, and peace reigned for a time"

"Half a century later, reports of robberies and murders returned. The outlaws spread slowly across the area for thirty-five years as order deteriorated in the kingdom. A horde of brigands finally stormed the castle, looting and burning everything within. The castle was razed to the ground, as the bandits repaid a debt they considered long overdue." 


 LB1 Crossroads of Chaladen is easily converted over to Castles & Crusades with little issue for experienced DM's and players. Now imagine if you will that the Germany barbarian tribes have been pushed to thier absolute limits. Now they've expanded into the French border because of the push of Chaos.  Chaos's armies of humanoids have been pushing the barbarins off thier lands and starving them. This leads back into the French kingdom of Chaldén where the Germany barbarians are invading. There are other forces behind this push. 

So they go back to thier ancestral raiding lands and here's where events of LB1 Crossroads of Chaladen overlap with  from Stains upon the Green's abandoned Dwarven city straight into Dark Wizard's #4 Vault of the Dwarven King. Chaos wants to seize control of the terror weapon of the Dwarves the Lava Elemental. 

Now why is this happening?! Because of the fall of the Roman fortresses along the border of the Germany terrorities in B2 The Keep on the Borderlands by Gary Gygax. We see the agents of Chaos working thier way across Europe as the forces of Chaos rise in  Mark Taormino's Maximum Mayhem Dungeons #0 Village of the Borderlands . B2 Keep on the Borderlands shows how the temples and shrines of Chaos are serving the meeting points for the armies of Chaos. And there are also parties of Chaos adventurers who are unlocking the ancient artifacts and monsters of Chaos. 
The Dwarven Fotress of Tar Kiln could lead to multiple sessions to plumb the depths of all it's mysteries.The Codex Classicum. hints about the Dwarves having a vested interest in many of the Roman god's legacies that they've left behind on Earth.