OSR Commentary On 'Hawk The Slayer' film From 1980 As Inspiration For Your Old School 2d6 Campaigns

"Two brothers locked in deadly combat till the end of time !"

"Hawk, having suffered the ignominy of watching both his father and fiancée die at the hands of his brother, Voltan, sets out on a quest for companions to aid him in his fight to stop his brother's reign of evil and free the Abbess"

 This is going to pick up right where  OSR Commentary On 'The Sword & The Sorcerer' film From 1982 As Inspiration For Your Old School 2d6 Campaigns left off.  The age of Cromwell is long over & its now the age of Hawk! 

So let's talk Nineteen Eighty's 'Hawk The Slayer' & 2d6 Warpland rpg. Wait what do mighty sword wielding barbarians  & Jack Kirby like Sword & Sorcery have to do with Jack Palance's Prince Voltan?! Quite a bit actually. Let's say that Warpland over the centuries has existed besides an ancient Earth and let's say that Elves, fairies, etc. almost all of the mythic creatures have crossed over into it. Yes this sounds like a tag line from Sword of Cepheus rpg. Instead we're going to turn the dial forward a bit to Barbaric rpg supplement as  an add on for Sword of Cepheus rpg & Warpland. Yes, Elves exist here in this Europe but their tribes are refugee's from another forgotten universe. They are creatures of legend who have moved on.
The Chaos storms have ravaged this Europe for centuries and then blown back cross the void between worlds. This is a world where the strong survive & only the heroes can stand up to the alien warlords of Warpland. 
Crow, Elf: "We have sat waiting like this many times before. Sometimes I tire... of the fighting and killing. At night, I can hear the call of my race. They wait for me. When I join them, we will be forgotten."


This is a ravaged Europe whose warlords & dark wizards are from Warpland. Time after time the dark powers have taken full advantage of & preyed on the peoples of this world. Voltan is only the latest warlord to take advantage of these evil powers. Or are they taking advantage of him?! Think Michael Moorcock's Elric mixed with Saturday afternoon VHS  matinee's here for the tone of such a campaign.
And no one seems to know where he is getting his barbaric hordes of an army?! They come across Europe sweeping aside anyone in their way. Where are they coming from?! Warpland of course provides the much needed muscle & support. What do the warlords of Warpland get in return?! Slaves, treasures, food, etc. 

The Elves & other refugee races from Warpland have helped mankind survive against the onslaught. But they will be forgotten as the Christian God comes into play. There is no mankind's history only from one age to another. Hawk carries on the ancient traditions of his people. The warlords of Warpland are very reluctant to share any of their high technological magical relic weapons with an insane fool such as Vultan. But he remains a useful tool for the moment. Voltan gets the occasional horde of mutants, orcs, humanoids, etc. 

The Elvish empire is waning as their lands carved out between the spaces of Warpland & Earth have been ravaged by the chaos storms. The occasional ruins & dungeons though still hold many treasures. 

These lands are indeed treacherous as those who venture into them may become rich or very dead. The feral Elven tribes who remain here are insane & set traps for the unwary. They take men's souls or worse.  The old king did his best to keep the peace between mankind & Elves. 
Orcs began to rise up from the ashes of these lands & only the 'old king''s forces have held them back. Voltan has been recruiting but these wild orc tribes answer to no man. 
The death of the 'old king' signals the chaos that will follow in Voltan's wake. This is exactly what some of the other warlords of Warpland are waiting for. 



The 'old king' held many of the Elven & other fantasy races treaties in check. His death is all that is needed to signal chaos in Europe. Hawk is the last of the mercenary kings of Europe. Hawk's band of adventurers will have a hard time retaming Europe in the grips of a 'post Voltan' empire. And that's where your PC's come in. 

Nature hates a power vacuum especially one involving the powers of Warpland. The hordes of Warpland are going to take full advantage of the death of Voltan. The mutant hordes will be sweeping across Europe in a post Voltan world. And that's where your PC's come into play. 

Warpland is available right over here 

OSR Commentary On 'The Sword & The Sorcerer' film From 1982 As Inspiration For Your Old School 2d6 Campaigns

" A mercenary with a three-bladed sword rediscovers his royal heritage's dangerous future when he is recruited to help a princess foil the designs of a brutal tyrant and a powerful sorcerer in conquering a land."

"Prince Talon: I have no quarrel with you. Out of my way.

Xusia: Cromwell is mine!

Prince Talon: Now we have a quarrel."

Welcome back to the lair of Sword & Sorcery, where when you a kid HBO was the basion for where popculture came to die on a Saturday afternoon. 'The Sword & The Sorcerer' had a bit of it all broad swords,  boobs, black magick, & all that bodes ill. This one is a favorite of mine going back to seeing it at a theater in Eighty Two. This film has a bit of everything designed by a hyperactive six year old including the a sword that shoots swords! 
The plot is both Eighties awesomenss & that 12 year old next door who used to sniff glue that got the Eightes Basic & Expert Dungeons & Dragons box sets. The plot according to IMDB Nick Riganas's "
In a dark epoch of sorcery, the murderous megalomaniac, King Titus Cromwell, awakens the demonic necromancer, Xusia of Delos, to usurp the throne of the benevolent King Richard of Eh-Dan, enslaving his daughter, and forcing into exile his youngest son, Talon. One violent decade later, Talon--now a great warrior wielding a magnificent triple-bladed sword--returns hell-bent on revenge, unbeknownst to him, however, that the evil sorcerer is alive, gathering his strength for the ultimate battle. Will the dauntless adventurer restore peace to the long-suffering kingdom? Is this the return of the lost prince?"

Alright so it sound like I'm knocking 'The Sword & The Sorcerer' nothing could be further from the truth. For Warpland the movie provides a perfect mini campaign blueprint. The tyrant king and his black sorcerer square off as the mercenaries have to save the day! And scattered throughout are the usual dangerous occult & technological items. 
'The Sword & The Sorcerer' works on several layers. As a mecenary warrior film it doesn't do so bad at all. You've got background enough on Talon's years abroad in the world. Richard Moll as Xusia hits all of the black wizard high marks. 

Lee Horsley is actually decent as Talon when it comes to the displaced prince cum mercenary leader.

'The Sword & the Sorcerer' makes excellent fodder for an OSR Sword & Sorcery campaign. Here are five reasons why:

1. Relunctant heroes, if there's ever a group of pathetic yet lovable mercenaries. Talon's group gets into several predicaments that have happened to players that I've played with.
2. An actually nasty black wizard character whose capable of taking out the main villain for his own reasons.
3. A plot that puts the villain, hero, and factions together for reasons.
4. The Tri sword, don't use this magic item like ever.
5. A plot that's easy to lift for a Sword & Sorcery rpg mini campaign.

 There are also several 2d6 Sword & Sorcery rpg's that also could draw perfectly from the world of 'The Sword & The Sorcerer'.  Barbaric! by Omer Golan-Joel from Stellagamma Publishing springs to mind coupled with Warpland is perfectly suited to simulate the Sword & Sorcery world of 'The Sword & The Sorcerer'. 

Warpland is ideal suited to run a 'Sword & Sorcerer' film style campaign. The weird dark ancient Earth of Talon's universe may have Warpland's setting replacing the North pole. This way the world of Warpland is intact but its strange influences continue to infect the Earth.