OSR Review and Commentary On Expanded Ancestries -- A Shadowdark Supplement By James Mishler, & Jodi Moran-Mishler For Your Old School Campaigns

" Expanded Ancestries -- Angelkin, Demonkin, Dragonkin, Fairykin, Geniekin, & Giantkin Ancestries & Classes

Designed for use with the Shadowdark RPG
By James Mishler and Jodi Moran-Mishler

Expanded Ancestries includes six new ancestries and ancestry classes for the Shadowdark RPG."

"New ancestries and ancestry classes are included for Angelkin, Demonkin, Dragonkin, Fairykin, Geniekin, and Giantkin.

Angelkin are able to call upon priest spells in a miraculous fashion; the angelkin class delved further into this ability and adds several celestial powers.

Demonkin are able to cast witch and wizard spells by calling upon their infernal relations and allies; the demonkin class increases this power, and adds full spellcasting abilities plus the ability to summon fiends!"

 Expanded Ancestries -- A Shadowdark Supplement By James Mishler, & Jodi Moran-Mishler is an expansion on the usual racial options for the Shadowdark rpg and OSR systems. Clocking in with lots of options for the Talismundian campaign that we've been covering. Expanded Ancestries brings a whole new way of bringing to life your PC's with: 

Angelkin are able to call upon priest spells in a miraculous fashion; the angelkin class delved further into this ability and adds several celestial powers.

Demonkin are able to cast witch and wizard spells by calling upon their infernal relations and allies; the demonkin class increases this power, and adds full spellcasting abilities plus the ability to summon fiends!

Dragonkin are able to use their ancestor’s breath attack; the dragonkin class improves on this and allows the dragonkin to attack with bite and claw attacks, use their wings to fly, and grow in power like their draconic ancestors.

Fairykin are able to fly like their tiny ancestors; the fairykin class allows the fairykin to learn to cast witch and wizard spells, use fairy glamours, change their size, and otherwise survive in the borders between the human and fey realms.

Geniekin are able to manipulate and protect themselves from the elements from whence their ancestors arose; the geniekin class improves upon this ability, enables them to wield the powers of their genie ancestors, and summon elemental entities.

Giantkin can call upon the mighty thews and strength of their ancestors; the giantkin class allows them to more fully call upon their ancestral powers, and even transform into true giants, growing mighty in size and melee power

So what this does is expand on the Castles & Cruasades PC options by a wide margin. This means that the PC's are going to highly invested within a C&C the Talismundian campaign setting. Each of the regions and areas expands the culture and setting for these racial options! But is this also an expansion of the material presented within the campaign setting and the PC's as well as NPC character generation. This expands the options at the table top level. 

Expanded Ancestries is a reliable, great as a go too, and works great for PC demi human generation. This means that for your dollar Expanded Ancestries goes a long way too generating the PC's that you want! 

OSR Review & Commentary The Talismundia Campaign Region Maps By James Mishler Games

 "The Talismundia Campaign Region Maps are complete!"

"Well, complete for now. After stitching them all together, there are still a few bits and bobs on the edges that need to be rectified, and as always, there were some errors here and there, so I'll be correcting those over time.

But now, the entire continent of Magnaregia is complete, as is the northern tier of Meridiarcanum.

The "Peoples of the Cold Steppes" and "Places of the Cold Steppes" PDFs are already available with Region Map 01, and the rest will follow for the other eight regions as time permits.

Should sales warrant, I plan to do a full gazetteer for each region. I also plan to focus on specific regions for further cartographical works.

Please let me know what you think of the maps!"

RANDOM ENCOUNTERS
Talismundian hexes are 30-miles across; usually a two-day journey on foot or a single day journey on horseback through normal terrain (double or longer for difficult terrain). Random encounter rolls should be made once every one to six hours, depending on the level of danger and population in the area (more population + more danger = more chance for encounters). Roll a d6; on a 1, the party has a random encounter.

When determining random encounters in an area, first check the map to see if a settlement, stronghold, or name of a creature type is either in/touching the hex or an adjacent hex.

When dealing with settlement and stronghold hexes, as well as hexes that contain any part of a creature type name, there is a 2 in 6 chance the encounter is with someone or something from that settlement or stronghold, or with that creature type.

When dealing with hexes that are adjacent to settlement and stronghold hexes, as well as hexes that are adjacent to a hex that contains any part of a creature type name, there is a 1 in 6 chance the encounter is with someone or something from that settlement or stronghold, or with that creature type.

If there are two or more such possibilities, randomly determine which is encountered.

Otherwise, roll on the provided encounter table for that area.

The Talismundia Campaign Region Maps By James Mishler Games brings home the Mishler campaign setting that's been brewing for months now. I've covered the  Talismundia Campaign Region maps & setting before on this blog as events, maps, and encounters have evolved. These campaign lands have evolved over time and design along with play testing on the Mishler family part. Adventuring parties are going to find years & years of play here. 
The list so far of releases reads like a Sword & Sorcery campaign diary: 

The maps will be released in the following order:

Talismundia Region 01: The Cold Steppes [Northwestern Region]
Talismundia Region 02: The Dread Empire [North Central Region]
Talismundia Region 03: The Howling Wilds [Northeastern Region]
Talismundia Region 04: The Western Vales [Western Region]
Talismundia Region 05: The Shattered Realm [Central Region]
Talismundia Region 06: The Falling Empire [Eastern Region]
Talismundia Region 07: The Burning Wastes [Southwestern Region]
Talismundia Region 08: The Demon Seas [South Central Region]
Talismundia Region 09: The Death Lands [Southeastern Region]

 Note that these fantasy campaign maps & settings can easily be evolved and dabbled with by other DM's because that's their purpose really. Sure there will be plenty of room for dungeon masters and players to customize  Talismundia for their own use. This means that you've got an entire world setting to use and create your own adventures in. 

The Talismundia Campaign Region Maps has everything that you want with regions straightly laid out for monsters, demi human races, and more. The regions, cults, and ruins are all laid out. This allows for the interactions between these races with warfare and more also thrown into the mix. There's also enough detail within 'The Talismundia Campaign Region Maps' for DM's to add this world to their own campaign setting how? If the campaign world setting is a globe then 'The Talismundia Campaign Region Maps' might be the other side of the campaign setting. This allows the DM to add this world into their games as an alternative setting. 
In closing I definitely think that The Talismundia Campaign Region Maps are well worth the price of admission and will add a huge new campaign setting to your own games! 

Review & Commentary Shadowmercs -- A Shadowdark 1980's Action-Adventure Supplement For The Shadowdark rpg

 "You were in The War. Things went wrong.

You and your comrades were charged with a crime you didn’t commit.
Now, you and your Team are back in The World and on the run.
You and your Team make your way in life the only way you know how… you are Shadowmercs."

"You served in The War at home, in the Concrete Jungle, protecting those who could not protect themselves.
But there is a Bigger World out there. The junk that is ruining lives comes from Out There.
If you want to stop it, and make Your World a better place, you need to take the fight to Them.
You and your Team have only your guts, your guns, and your mighty martial arts¦ you are Shadowmercs."

Shadowmercs -- A Shadowdark 1980's Action-Adventure Supplement For The Shadowdark rpg is the latest offering from James Mishler, &  Jodi Moran-Mishler. Shadowmerc presents an alternative set of 1980's action & television rules. Yes these are cinematic Shadowdark rpg rules for running 80's action adventures for your players. 
The PC's in Shadowmercs are taken outta of these TV show inspired influences: 

 Shadowmercs uses modified rules for Armor Class, Hit Points, Unconsciousness, Dying, and Healing, appropriate for the Action-Hero genre;

Modern backgrounds for modern Action Heroes, with an expanded cinematic Luck Token system;

Six new classes:
The Armsman, master of gun-fu and blazing bullets;
The Brawler, master of martial arts and weapon-katas;
The Driver, master of any vehicle that moves on land, sea, or air;
The Faceman, master of manipulating people to get what they want;
The Operator, master of plans and leadership who makes a team's luck;
The Scout, master of bushcraft and survival and lots and lots of weapons!

So Shadowmercs provides about fifty seven pages of Shadowdark rpg action rules style rules & this includes a ton of modern fire arms, equipment, adventure tables, and more. All centered around a cinematic take on the Shadowdark simplified engine. 

The Shadowdark rpg of Shadowmercs looks like a great supplement. But it's not for me as a DM. 
This isn't a slight on the Shadowdark role playing game. Let me explain. I'm a Castles & Crusades rpg fanatic and enjoy that system and Shadowmercs could easily be grafted into C&C but it's already got a cinematic system in Amazing Adventures reforged. 
However, Shadowmercs fits a far more specialized niche with the A Team, James Bond, Superspy genre of Shadowdark rpg adventures. 

Shadowmercs plugs into the 99% of the Shadowdark Rpg to turn it on it's ear and get deeply into the superspy and Pulpy genre of the fiction and television to present an alternative set of rules that works. 

Octogorilla At The Ancient Fort - Bloody Arduin mixed with classic Castles & Crusades - Session Report

 And we're back after I came down with a 24 hour illness! The cobwebs are cleared & I got a chance to run a bit of Castles & Crusades mixed with Bloody Arduin. So I took over a C&C game from DM Charles and the players were exploring an 'abandoned' fort on the edge of a frontier era. Think late Roman Empire mixed with Castles & Crusades. It's just a little past sunset & the party is getting ready to clear out the first level of this fort! 
The party awaits outside the fort to see what predators are awakening. Suddenly there is a shrill cry & the party see the shape of an octogorilla shimmy down the outside of one of the fort's towers! 

The party has zero desire to mess with this apex predator! The sound of it's heavy breathing and shrill cry echos across the field and then it speeds off into the under growth and there is the sound of a scream from a nearby elk! The fiend has brought down a buck! And it powerful tentacles wrap around it's kill and head off into it's alternative lair! 
The party skulks off into the darkness toward the ruined tower on the left & have on good information that fantastic treasure was left behind because the forces of Chaos bore down on the fort too quick. They overran the place and moved on. Thus leaving behind the guadians of Order's banner, spear of destiny, and most of all the treasury. They had this on good authority after paying a veteran soldier of the fortress for that info and a map. 
The party made it's way to the ruined tower and the gapping hole that was the side wall. They planted spikes, ropes, and immediately lowered themselves into the gloom. The smell was unbearable as the scattered bones and remains of dozens and dozens of humanoids were visible all around them. There toward the back were the chests, banner, and spear glowing in the gloom. As they made thier way too them. Two blackish rays and beams hit the party square sending the fighters balling across the carnage. 
The thing that rose in the gloom looks decayed and horrid a moster covered in eyes from a nightmare! There are few words to describe the thing but it rises from under the bones a vision of terror made real! 
The party has the advantage and needs to press it! The Eldritch Eye takes stock of it's latest victims and begins to dish out punshment. The eye rays crack the air in three places as the party's magus attacks with a fire ball! The illusionist uses a rapidly revolving light show for a distraction and there's one of the fighters making a rapid recovery. 
The beam hits the Dwarven warrior turning him instantly to stone and skins the hand of the Elven prince. Darius is able to shrug off most of the effects but his bow is rendered useless and he only aquired it three towns back! 
The thieves scramble over the rubble and quickly check the treasures and give a thumbs up in the torch light! And this is when the party's  violence brings the shrill hoot & squak of a familar octogorilla back! 
 Tentacles begin slowly lowering into the gloom of the bone choked room! The party is trapped between these two titans! This is where we ended it until next week! 

The undead  Eldritch  Eye of course comes from James Mishler Games's Expanded Monsters: Eldritch Eyes!  The Eldritch Eye was left behind by the forces of Chaos as they moved through the area as a sort of living landmine. 

OSR Review & Commentary Gods & Demons - Hawkmoor - Aedle Magder - A Shadowdark Supplement ( Castles & Crusades) Supplement

 "Gods & Demons – Hawkmoor – Aedle Magder describes one of the pantheons of the peoples of Hawkmoor and the Great Enchanted Vale, a campaign setting designed for use with the Shadowdark RPG."

"This booklet details the deities and demon-gods of the Jorn, the Norse and Germanic-inspired peoples of the Great Enchanted Vale." 

"This ersatz pantheon can also readily be used in virtually any fantasy campaign with any Old School style fantasy RPG where a Norse and Germanic-inspired pantheon can be used."

Gods & Demons - Hawkmoor - Aedle Magder By Mishler Games has entire patheon of gods, monsters, etc. all ready to drop into your Castles & Crusades rpg campaign. Yes, it says Shadowdark on the package but let's be realistic here. This supplement will work nicely for Castles & Crusades adventures without any modification at all. And this means that  you get details such as priesthood, religions, practices, etc. And then in twenty pages you get everything you need to add these into your own campaigns: 

"It is the first installment in the Gods & Demons line and includes details on the following deities and demon-gods, including their personality, nature, and most importantly, specific details about their clergy and their special abilities:

Greater gods in descending order of prominence:
Gor the Mighty (N)
Raesa Mountain-Mother (f, N)
Eidh Oathkeeper (L)
Valka Ravenwing (f, N)
Sverdkona Dragonbane (f, N)

Lesser gods include:
Orkan Fellibylur (N)
Aegtes Goldring (f, L)
Miskunn the Merciful (N)
Motsognir the Mighty (N)
Vangatari the Fey-Queen (N)
Storgryti the Stone-Giant King (N)

Demon gods include:
Jokul Frostbreath (C)
Slagg the Fire-Giant King (C)
Knuta the Mountain-Giant King (C)
Storslys, Wyrm-Father (C)
Ugartha, Queen of Wickedness (C)
Skrammande, Granny Troll (C)
Vargulf Ironclaws (C)
Frahrindandi, Chaos-Dwarf (C)
Salargnaver Hell-Belly (C)

Also included are details on Jorn:
A list of Beings commonly associated with the Jorn faith
Afterlife
Temples, Altars, & Shrines
Sea Wolf Class Alterations
Norse versus Jorn Equivalents" 

This means that entire group of gods and monsters can be dropped into Castles and Crusades easily. And this is content you can use from unknown good gods for paladins of a Norse nature to full on Choatic gods of horror that can come at your PC's from no where. 
But is Gods & Demons - Hawkmoor - Aedle Magder worth the 2.50 American that it says on the package?! Are you kidding me?! With entities like Granny Troll Skrammande and her minions breathing down the neck of your adventurers. Gods & Demons - Hawkmoor - Aedle mMagder is an automatic pick up for me. These gods and entities are perfect for the DM to add them to your Castles & Crusades adventures! Grab Gods & Demons - Hawkmoor - Aedle Magder today! 

OSR Review & Commentary On Hawkmoor Geographica -- A Shadowdark Campaign Setting By James Mishler, & Jodi Moran-Mishler For Castles & Crusades, Labyrinth Lord, & Shadowdark RPG

 "Hawkmoor Geographica describes the geography of the Great Enchanted Vale, a campaign setting designed for use with the Shadowdark RPG."

"It is the second installment in the Hawkmoor Campaign Setting and includes:

• Descriptions and encounter tables for 70 geographical regions of the Great Enchanted Vale, including Accursed River, Aerie Stream, Alicorn River, Alicorn Vale, Black River, Boneholt, Cliffs of Insanity, Doomfells, Dreadwood, Druasweald, Druidholt, Dwarrowbergen, Edhelwen, Enchanted River, Fireswamp, Frogmarsh, Frostfields, Gigabolt Stream, Giggleflow, Glitterstream, Goblinskull Meadow, Goblintops, Goldflow, Grayflow, Great Alfweald, Green Vales, Hawkmoor, Hellflow, Horrible Highlands, Howlingwood, Mt. Icingdoom, Indigo Plain, Ironflow River, Jundian Meadows, Madmarsh, Obsidian Peaks, Ogrish Uplands, Old Dwarf Road, Orcian Wastes, Orcrise, Pagena Plains, Plateau of Pagena, River Icingdeath, River Jorn, River Jund, River Kelume, River of Doom, River of Flowers, River of Lost Souls, River of Shadows, Scarlet Stream, Screaming Stream, Silverstream, The Sink, Skullmire, Star Ruby River, Stardust Ridge, Stonethorn Plain, Sweetwater, Talath Meril, Thunder Peaks, Toadsquat Fields, Vile Stream, Violet River, Viridian Doom, Weeping River, Windrush, Witchyflow, Wizard Vale, and Woodflow.
• D100 Random Encounter Tables, each including 100 lines of encounters with guidance, for Farmland Encounters, Fey & Sylvan Encounters, and Highway Encounters.

"This booklet provides you with everything you need to get started adventuring in the Great Enchanted Vale. Of course, at this broad and shallow level of detail, the Game Master still needs to do some work to make the setting their own. More details on the City and realm of Hawkmoor will be made available as they are revealed."

 Hawkmoor Geographica -- A Shadowdark Campaign Setting By James Mishler, & Jodi Moran-Mishler is a sweet forty eight page campaign world that we saw with the with the release of  The Map of the Great Enchanted Vale is available separately, at the Pay What You Want rate. 
With the poliferation of Shadowdark titles on Drivethrurpg the Hawkmoor Geographica campaign setting belongs in classic Castles & Crusades or classic Labyrinth Lord rpg. Hawkmoor presents a world in conflict and ripe with adventure locations. And this makes it rife for use with classic Castles & Crusades. 

The Hawkmoor Geographica campaign setting has everything a party of adventurers need to begin thier quests and adventures in the wilds and urban locations of a world. There are vast tracks of wilderness, vales and garden locations and more. 
Enchanted highlands, low lands of mystery, and more. The Hawkmoor Geographica campaign setting does this within forty eight pages allowing the action to press on with little to impede it. And it continues with just enough to get things started. But not enough to trip up the DM who wants to make Hawkmoor thier own. 
And because Hawkmoor is easy to port over to C&C, it's the perfect location to start adventuring in today. 
The fonts are easy to read, the text and font are easy on the eyes. Layout is standard and well put together. 
Hawkmoor has some history behind it but not enough to trip up the DM or players. And unlike other titles this one has just enough campaign setting to make things well worth your time with adventure hooks and dungeon plots in the wings. All this within forty eight pages makes the Hawkmoor Geographica campaign setting well worth your time. 

OSR Review & Commentary - Puppeteer Class -- A Shadowdark Supplement From James Mishler Games

"The Puppeteer Class is a new class designed for use with the Shadowdark RPG. While it can be used as a player class, it has excellent potential to provide non-player character villains – and their minions – the player characters can encounter and oppose during their adventures."

The puppeteer class has a 4-sided hit die and includes the following abilities:

Magic Item Use: A puppeteer may use magic items as per a wizard.
Puppeteering: A puppeteer uses arcane alchemical methods to animate puppets using the souls of willing and unwilling subjects, or even elemental or diabolical spirits. The greater the puppeteer’s talents, more puppets can be animated, the more powerful are the abilities of the puppets, and the more special abilities they may possess. A system for crafting and animating puppets is included.
Puppet Special Abilities: Puppets may include various special abilities. 32 special abilities are described." 

Puppeteer Class -- A Shadowdark Supplement From James Mishler Games  is a nice Shadowdark Supplement clocks in at about  nine pages of weird and wonderful vile NPC villainy. This is a solid supplemen from James Mishler Games. Now I don't play Shadowdark but where I would use the Puppeteer Class is with Castles & Crusades. Puppeteers would make extremely creepy & formable foes for C&C!  

The puppeteer class has a bit of everything that a vile villain needs. Creepy powers check, ability to create scades of minions at higher levels check, abiliy to create minions and monsters with some lethality too them?! 
Yup they have all of this and more. Could the Puppeteer be used with say Lamentations of the Flame Princess? Absolutely it could and very easily. 
The Pupeteer class hits all of the high notes as an NPC villain. Its a creepy, ookie, and very spooky class with all of th bells and whistles one expects from a James Mishler games product! 

The puppets left behind by a puppeteer make for some different and excellent NPC monsters in their own right and Mishler provides all of the special abilities and weirdness to make them a real threat for the dungeons or ruins of your choice. 
- Puppeteer Class -- A Shadowdark Supplement From James Mishler Games Is Available Right Over Here 

Review & Commentary On Expanded Races: Thanians - A Shadowdark Supplement By James Mishler, & Jodi Moran-Mishler From James Mishler Games For The Shadowdark Rpg

 Expanded Races: Thanians - A Shadowdark Supplement By James Mishler,  &  Jodi Moran-Mishler is a huge fifteen page racial expansion for the Shadowdark rpg. And when I mean huge I mean it. This expansion has a entire plethora of racial animal humanoid options for the game. In the Shadowdark rpg these racial options are called Thanians. Thanians is a PC term that covers a wide range of animal humanoid options.  And for a 1.99 you get a lot of OSR options with no filler! 

The Thanian races options cover about thirteen pages of OSR content including the following PC animal options; "Thanians, also known as Beastfolk, are anthropomorphic animals, including insect, amphibian, reptile, avian, and mammals, and including the following races:

Antfolk
Apefolk
Badgerfolk
Batfolk
Bearfolk
Beefolk
Birdfolk
Boarfolk
Butterflyfolk
Catfolk
Cattlefolk
Corvidfolk
Crabfolk
Cricketfolk
Deerfolk
Dogfolk
Duckfolk
Fishfolk
Foxfolk
Frogfolk
Gatorfolk
Goatfolk
Horsefolk
Lionfolk
Lizardfolk
Locustfolk
Mantisfolk
Monkeyfolk
Mousefolk
Otterfolk
Pigfolk
Rabbitfolk
Raccoonfolk
Raptorfolk
Ratfolk
Roachfolk
Serpentfolk
Sheepfolk
Skunkfolk
Tigerfolk
Wolffolk

Each has a brief description of common physical characteristics and typical societal systems, along with one or more special abilities.

16 pages (13 pages of content)." 

What does this mean for the Shadowdark rpg itself?! Quite a lot actually! Shadowdark is a retroclone with a difference; "Shadowdark is a fantasy roleplaying game where you delve into subterranean dungeons, caverns, and tombs in search of gold and glory."

"The Shadowdark is a vast network of buried and forgotten ruins brooding beneath the surface world. It clutches ancient
secrets and dusty treasures in its rotting claws, daring fortune seekers to tempt their fates.

With your adventuring companions at your side, you confront the Shadowdark's sinister traps, ancient magics, and ruthless monsters.

If you survive, you'll return to the surface with marvelous
riches plucked from the depths. And before long, you'll hear the Shadowdark's call once again!" 

For the Expanded Races: Thanians - A Shadowdark Supplement By James Mishler, & Jodi Moran-Mishler this gives the players far more variety, power of play, and PC's options at the table top level. With so many Thanian options the players can pick & choose what animals & regions of the campaign suit thier style of play. Is Expanded Races: Thanians - A Shadowdark Supplement any good?! Com'n folks this is James Mishler,  &  Jodi Moran-Mishler From James  Mishler Games. Of course it's good! We get all substance and very little filler! The Mishlers bring their unique blend of solid layout, good writing, and design. And no manture for your Shadowdark campaigns. 

The Shadowdark rpg game is available through the Arcane library here.  The Expanded Races: Thanians - A Shadowdark Supplement By James Mishler,  &  Jodi Moran-Mishler is available right over on Drivethrurpg here. 

Raising The Undead - OSR Commentary On Dark Wizard Game's Shadow of the Necromancer Levels 1-3 By Mark Taormino & Some Sword & Sorcery Options

 "Fear stalks through the darkness of night in the form of the walking dead! They attack innocent travelers and merchant caravans in

the moonlight! Animated skeletons have also been seen digging up the recently dead and carrying them into the nearby ruins of an
old abandoned keep! Rumor spreads fast from lip to ear amongst the locals, whispering that a sinister hooded figure has been seen
directing the undead and is taking up residence in that foul dungeon! Your stalwart group of adventurers has decided to take on this
challenge, get the treasure you know is in there and defeat this evil menace known only as the Shadow of the Necromancer!"

Tonight we've been meeting & talking with fellow dungeon masters about our recent dust up with the  Hyperborea rpg & the idea of possibly running a first level adventure connected with the system. And one possibility is Dark Wizard Game's Shadow of the Necromancer. 

There are few reasons for this right out of the gate & this ties back into James Mishler's Necromancer Class – Masters of Death and Undeath which we covered at length right around Halloween time here on the blog. 

The idea here is that someone has gotten a hold of the Demonicus Ex Mori a dire book of Hyperborean necromatic lore stretching back to the age of the Green Death. The magicks of this book are far more dangerous then the standard necromancer's rituals. 
And things begin to spiral out of control as the undead become an issue straight out of the gate. The circumstances become much more of an issue as the dead begin to distrupt the seasonal stock up of the harvest before the Winter of Hyperborea. 
And here's where Lamentations of the Flame Princesses Death Frost Doom might be the second adventure in this trilogy of Christmas terror. 

The second adventure might be an encounter with one of the undead of Death, Frost, Doom which is animated by a demon simliar to one seen in the Army of Darkness movies aka the ASIMANTOS. These horrors can be seen in the mouths of the undead as the animating force. And Mishler has made it worse by including several low level demon orders  that the necromancer can summon; 'ASIMANTOS (Lower Order Demon) No. Enc.: 1d3 (1d6) Alignment: Chaotic (Evil) Movement: 120’ (40’) Armor Class: 4 Hit Dice: 1 Attacks: 1 Spear Damage: 1d4 Save: F1 Morale: 8 Hoard Class: VII XP: 25 Asimantos demons, known as the “Pick-Nose” demons, are among the least of true demon kind, usually quasits or other lower order demons transformed into this form as punishment for lesser infractions. Asimantos demons stand merely one foot tall, with a spindly malformed human-like body, and carry a simple wooden spear. They gather in small groups, as misery loves company. Asimantos demons have all the standard demonic abilities and weaknesses afforded to lower order demons. They are immune to normal weapons, but can be hit by silver, iron, or magical weapons. Asimantos demons attack using their tiny spears (melee only, they are too weak to throw them), or by flinging a ball of flaming mucus picked from their nose. The mucus has a range of 10/20/30 feet, and deals 1d4 points of fire damage. Plus, a hit target must make a saving throw versus Spells or be sickened and suffer a - 2 to all attack rolls until they can clean off the mucus with a vial of holy water. Asimantos demons can use the following spelllike abilities at will: detect good, detect magic, and polymorph self (form of a frog, rat, or a slithering tracker).' 

Undead in these adventures are actually Lovecraftian demonic forces making things that much deadlier & more dangerous. 

Once you dispose of the undead horrors then you've got to banish or destroy the ASIMANTOS in all of it's grotesque glory. And of course this could all be taking place just outside of the Hyperborean capital. 

The recovery of the Demonicus Ex Mori a dire book of Hyperborean necromatic lore is going to be on the minds of the players. Could they succeed?! That's a qood question & not one easily answered. 

While  Dark Wizard Game's Shadow of the Necromancer could be played in a few sessions, the module could act as a bridge into events surrounding T1 The Village of Hommlet by Gary Gygax. The foul magicks unleashed by the necromancer dove tailing into the elemental evil forces of the cults that surround T1-4 The Temple of Elemental Evil! 

This could go into the fact that the necromancer of Shadow of the Necromancer could be working for or with the elemental evil cult providing cannon fodder in the form of foul undead horrors.  There's a lot of potential here with many of the adventure elements cross polinating for a very successful campaign set up especially for Hyperborea or your favorite OSR system.