Review & Commentary On The Player's Companion By James M. Spahn From Gallant Games For The Swords & Wizardry Rpg (and other old-school fantasy role-playing games)

" With the Player's Companion for Swords & Wizardry (and other old-school fantasy role-playing games), you're never out of options. This 35 page supplement offers new optional rules to expand your Swords & Wizardry campaign! "

• Expanded attribute limits which allow for player characters to go beyond the limits of mere mortals
• Two new optional Attributes: Appearance & Luck
• New class abilities for every class featured in the Swords & Wizardry Complete rulebook
• Two new classes: The dark Anti-Paladin and the learned Bard
• Three new non-human player character races: the deadly dark elf, whimsical gnome and brutal half-orc
• Optional attribute modifiers for non-human characters
• Eleven new weapons
• Five new types of armor
• Two new shields
• Thrity-five new magic items" 
  
  

There is only one reason why I grabbed The Player's Companion By James M. Spahn From Gallant Games For The  Swords & Wizardry Rpg (and other old-school fantasy role-playing games). And that is because I'm going to be running a White Star Galaxy Edition game set within the Washington sector. And the reason for grabbing the Player's Companion is because I truly don't trust the situation with Cowards of Coast  & the OGL. Further more the research that I've done into  The Player's Companion By James M. Spahn indicates that it's a wise investiment. For White Star the 'Anti Paladin' is a must; "Anti-Paladins are unholy warriors dedicated to the forces of Chaos. Whether they've sold their soul for power, made a dark pact with infernal masters, or simply relish in blood and carnage, they are blackhearted warriors beyond redemption. They are the classic “black knight,” who seeks to destroy and dominate the world. They are completely dedicated to the destruction of the forces of Law and go forth in hopes of ruling the world through tyranny and at the point of a sword." And if that doesn't sound like an NPC class that can give a group of star knights a run for their money I don't know what will. And given the range of the class plus it's benefits this is a villainous class with some clout to it. 
The writing, layout, and even the artwork within the The Player's Companion is top notch. All of the highnotes are hit with customizations & credits within the The Player's Companion for Swords & Wizardry. We get another variation on ye old faithful Bard class with enough zip to get these tellers of tales & ancient knowledge out of the time of legend. And then there's new races such as the Dark Elves, Gnomes, and even a half orc for your assassinations.. Then there's a brand new equipment & weapons chapter covering everything from a Cestus to Tower shields is covered. Then we've got a nice selection of magic items & more. So is   The Player's Companion worth the price of admission?! If your a Swords & Wizardry player or DM? In a word .yes! The Player's Companin is a catch up all title for all manner of Swords & Wizardry material that you drop down into your campaign or added in as needed! 
  The Player's Companion By James M. Spahn From Gallant Games For The  Swords & Wizardry Rpg (and other old-school fantasy role-playing games)
is available here 

   

OSR Commentary - Adapting S4: The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth (1e) By Gary Gygax For A Greyhawk Sector Campaign

" In the Yatil Mountains south of Perrenland there is rumored to be a magical hoard of unsurpassed value, a treasure of such fame that scores f adventurers have perished in search of it. Find the perilous Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth and you may gain the hidden wealth of the long-dead arch-mage -- if you live!"



The big problem with getting together with players is that someone comes up with a killer idea & then decides to pull me aside with a beer & to have a word. The word tonight was about two things one was The White Star Galaxy edition rpg  & the second was S4: The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth By Gary Gygax. Now the suggestion was that the classic dungeon was once upon a time a void knight training facility that has fallen into disrepair. Well sort of.. The facility has become active again as a  rival void knight party has taken up the dark magicks of the place under the watchful eye of the demi lich. 

There's a lot to unpack here as the party have been called in (erm hired by) the respresentives of a Greyhawk nation but personally I make this a part of the Greyhawk sector. The whole cloth weirdness of the dungeon setting can come down to the presence of Iggwilv. Its her influence as a  true creature of the void & her association with her daughter Drelnza, that makes this one Hell of a training facility. 

Drelnza, may have been personally training her own quartet of void knights to serve her own selfish whims. This leads me back into the fact that ;"The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth is a revised and expanded version of The Lost Caverns of Tsojconth, a tournament adventure that Gygax wrote for WinterCon V, a gaming convention sponsored by the Metro Detroit Gamers (MDG) in 1976.^[4] It is based in part on one of Rob Kuntz's dungeon levels, as Kuntz helped Gygax revise the tournament version.^[5] This original version consisted of eight loose sheets, an outer folder, and a zip-locked bag; only several hundred copies were printed.^[4] In the May 1980 issue of Dragon, Gygax said "Rob Kuntz has the reworked Lost Caverns module which must be finalized" and that "We want to get it into print as soon as possible."^[6] Lawrence Schick later suggested that "there's evidence that Gary considered Tsojcanth part of a longer Greyhawk campaign, placing the adventure between T1–T4 The Temple of Elemental Evil and WG4 The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun. (By this reckoning, The Village of Hommlet, The Temple of Elemental Evil, and Tsojcanth are thus the "lost" WG1 through WG3 modules.) So, Tsojcanth was published in the S series because it got completed out of order, but was too good to delay.""  This is why the whole cloth of S4 could be considered a really well thought out training facility & major part of the Greyhawk sector. Now mostly forgotten. Well mostly forgotten. The dark magicks of Tsojcanth keep the monsters in suspension until someone enters their area. 

Many of the traps, tricks, & monsters are used to separate parties of void knights & adventurers. This is to test the steel of the knights in question. This goes towards a long way to help explain the presence of so many monsters living on top each other. 



S4 has at its core some very dark magicks & some adventure elements that can help fill in some gaps in the 'void knight reference & adventure background  material' for the Greyhawk sector. Drelnza is going to be a major bad ass not something to trifle with. 

Its once this classic module is solved & cleared then things get very interesting! Once WG4: The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun (1982), by Gary Gygax is pulled out then the true nature of this shrine of the void becomes apparent. Tharizdun would be a true avitar of the 'void' and his release spells the doom of the Greyhawk sector. 



The idea for using this classic module as an add on came from  Bud's RPG review of this infamous vintage module. The fact that the review looks at it with such gusto makes me want to run these two classic modules as a part of a mini campaign. 


If done the right way in my opinion then using S4: The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth (1e) By Gary Gygax For A Greyhawk Sector Campaign not only makes perfect sense. But could keep a White Star game going for a year or better. It also shows the adaptablility & resilience that these classic modules have across a huge spectrum of old school & OSR table top rpg systems.