Retooling the Free L5A: The Kroten Campaign Guide by Lenard Lakofka (Author) For An OSR Sword & Sorcery Campaign

 "This manual describes the Town of Kroten and the nearby area, which is located on Lendore Isle in the World of Greyhawk. Details include nomenclature used by the author, world background, and local features. Also included is a detailed description of the Town of Kroten, excepting three key areas: The Fane of Syrul, the Fane of Pyremius, and the Castle Kroten itself. These areas are described in L5B: The Kroten Adventures."

This blog post picks right  up where our last blog post left off &  picks up with the free L5A: The Kroten Campaign Guide by  Lenard Lakofka from Dragon's foot here.  We established that the The Downs might be Sword & Sorcery Arthurian England with splash of H.P. Lovecraft & Clark Ashton Smith.  And this means that Koaten region is actually a place that has been transported from Greyhawk over to Hyperborea. The town of Restenford is inherited by the settlers on Hyperborea.  They literally moved in after the 'Green Death' plague took out the Hyperboreans! The Kroten Campaign Guide provides the DM with information on the L5 module;"
This is the Kroten Campaign Guide for the L5 module, providing information on the town of Kroten and the surrounding area." And it also gives detailed information on the following; 
This manual is the first in a three book set:
L5A: The Kroten Campaign Guide (this file)
L5B: The Kroten Adventures
L5C: The Kroten Campaign Companion
This details the region around Kroten but its actually U1 Sinster Secret of Saltmarsh  written by Dave J. Browne with Don Turnbull. This module provides the Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea with the town of Restenford is also a great town for making Saltmarsh the unsavory sub village where all of the sea scum hang out. The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh written by Dave J. Browne with Don Turnbull is the perfect add on for  L1 'The Secret of Bone Hill' by Lenard Lakofka.

And this makes  the Kroten Campaign Guide an excellent free download to add to a  Astonishing SWordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea rpg campaign. The feel of the Kroten Campaign Guide is one of almost Walesh Arthurian England but with a twist up of Sword & Sorcery in the mix.  The  last time we talked about the Hyperborean vaults below 'The Downs' & some of their impact on the kingdom's future fortunes. Could the Kroten Campaign  have something similar?! The idea here is that Greyhawk in the past may have played host to a Hyperborean colony in the past. 
Half of my campaign version of Hyperborea's population came from Greyhawk from one of the many horrid disasters of that plagued that campaign setting. 

The real secret might be the dangers  that the volcanoic areas around   the Kroten area itself. The residents of the Kroten area  are aware of some of the rich deposits of gems around these volcanoes. But they are also aware of the legends of salmanders, effreet, and other plane of fire horrors. This leads to legends of a gate way to the plane of fire. Something that Dwarves of the Kroten area know about.  But the seas  around Kroten is a haven for privateers who use the place as a landing area for their smuggling activities. 

What really makes seas the Kroten area so dangerous is the abundance of undersea volcanoes. Not only do these claim more then one ship in the area. But also the fact that there are cities of Deep Ones & their cults in the area. Next time we dive below the surface to talk about some of the major factions of Kroten. 

The Free L5A: The Kroten Campaign Guide by Lenard Lakofka is available right here. 

Retooling L1 'The Secret of Bone Hill' by Lenard Lakofka (Author) For An OSR Sword & Sorcery Campaign

 
"Danger lurks in the Lendore Isles. Bands of evil creatures prowl the hills overlooking the town of Restenford, seeking unwary victims. Now you have come to this sleepy little village looking for adventure and excitement. You seek to fathom the unexplored reaches of Bone Hill and unlock the mysteries of Restenford."



Dreams are funny things & last night there was this dream about L1 'The Secret of Bone Hill' by Lenard Lakofka. Personally about 90% of the time Len doesn't get half of the credit he deserves in old school gaming. Let's get the history of L1 out of the way here;" L1: "The Secret of Bone Hill" (1981) is the first adventure in Lenard Lakofka's "Lendore Isle" trilogy. It was published in 1981" Fantastic but how does any of this relate to the Downs from our previous blog entry on  N3 'Destiny of Kings' By Stephen Bourne?! Well its got everything to do with it! The Downs might be Sword & Sorcery Arthurian England with splash of H.P. Lovecraft & Clark Ashton Smith. Then 'L1 The Secret of Bone Hill' by Lenard Lakofka is the mythic Icelandic & pirate venture throw in together. The town of Restenford with a bit of redressing could easily become the perfect pirate venture location for Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea. If we're talking about Icelandic fishing villages here why are you showing a Neolithic Italian village below?! The reasons are two fold, one is the melting pot of cultures that is this country. Remember Hyperborea is a place of the 'lost' as well refugee  settlers from 'Old Earth'. 

The photo is by Giuale - Own work of the  Reconstruction of the Neolithic village of Travo

This is a photo of a monument which is part of cultural heritage of Italy. This monument participates in the contest Wiki Loves Monuments Italia 2016. 

The second reason is the fact that the town of Restenford is inherited by the settlers of the town. They literally moved in after the 'Green Death' plague took out the Hyperboreans. The town of Restenford is also a great town for making Saltmarsh the unsavory sub village where all of the sea scum hang out. The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh written by Dave J. Browne with Don Turnbull is the perfect add on for  L1 'The Secret of Bone Hill' by Lenard Lakofka.

The royal linage of the kingdoms of Dunador control rich volcanic fields of ' The Downs' and the rich fishing grounds of the town of Restenford. But there's a bit of a secret to these kingdoms. Ship building, raiding, and much more but its the merchant trading that the town of Restenford's coffers full. The royal linage of the kingdoms of Dunador look the other way on a bit of privateering. But its the literal hundreds of trade ships that get get sent out & come into the port that keeps the coffers of the kingdom full. Sure you've got to have Sword & Sorcery action in Hyperborea. But there has to be places of stability amid the Lovecraftian chaos. 

Now last time we talked about the Hyperborean vaults below 'The Downs' & some of their impact on the kingdom's future fortunes. But let's kick it up a notch for a moment if these first or even fourth level PC's are assigned to a trading vessel & go out into the world then the events around the 'U series' of modules can unfold right when they get back! The Alchemist is actually a lich that's been operating for years in the town of Restenford & he's been stoking the fires between the Deep Ones & the tribes of Lizardmen. 

Why?! Because of AS&SH's planar connections with Greyhawk of course! Greyhawk plays a key part in this whole affair. Half of my campaign version of Hyperborea's population came from Greyhawk from one of the many horrid disasters of that plagued that campaign setting. 

And yes there's a ton of Len's world on Dragon's foot for free. Sometimes a DM doesn't want to overwhelm his players with all of that yet. We'll get those next week. 

In Memorum For TSR Writer, Wargamer, & Module Designer Lenard "Len" Lakofka (1944-2020)

 


Well, Lenard "Len" Lakofka (1944-2020) has passed & we had the odd email here & there. He was a very nice & personable person whose works always graced my table. He was one of the original TSR alumni & pioneers of the original Dungeons & Dragons leading right next to other greats. 
 L1 The Secret of Bone Hill is in my opinion the essential Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh module. Len on the other hand did a Hell of a lot for the OSR through the release of L4 Devil Spawn &  L5A: The Kroten Campaign Guide. 

I found Len Lakofka's modules solid & were well recieved at the table top with my players. There isn't a month that went by when I didn't look forward to his  monthly feature, Leomund's Tiny Hut, appeared in Issue #30 of 'The Dragon'. The Dragon issue 30 was released in October of 1979 & Its October 23, 2020 that Len passed. Pass the dice, miss the player, another one us has left the table. Rest in peace Lenard "Len" Lakofka you will be missed at our table tonight. All my best, condolences, & respects to the  Lakofka family this evening. 

OSR Commentary On L1 The Secret Of Bone Hill By Lenard Lakofka For Your Old School Campaigns

Danger lurks in the Lendore Isles. Bands of evil creatures prowl the hills overlooking the town of Restenford, seeking unwary victims. Now you have come to this sleepy little village looking for adventure and excitement. You seek to fathom the unexplored reaches of Bone Hill and unlock the mysteries of Restenford.So I was having a debate about L1 The Secret of Bone Hill with a friend of mine. This is one those modules that is more setting book then module. Originally designed for AD&D first edition its one of those modules with a history steeped in the changes that were happening at TSR in 1981 ;'The Secret of Bone Hill is an adventure module written by Lenard Lakofka for the first edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and published by TSR in 1981. It is designed for novice and intermediate players with characters of levels 2-4.' This is a weird beast of a module because its more of a campaign primer then simply adventure. What makes it unique is just how detailed the wilderness areas are. The town of Restenford is its own rather unique adventure location with lots of tidbits & mini locations.


Restenford a small town that has secrets and many of them are deadly cue Lovecraft music here. Over the years I've come to respect & use 'The Secret of Bone Hill' adventure many times. I've known Lenard Lakofka name since I was a kid because of his work in the hobby of  wargaming. 'The Secret of Bone Hill' was an adventure location from his own home campaign which later on became part of his own Lenore Isles campaign it was run for the Nystul family from approximately 1978-1985. Think of Restenford as sort of Lovecraftian 'Payton Place' where during the day everything looks normal enough but then the undead come out to play and well things get interesting for the PC's. L1 is also a low level & very friendly for dungeon masters who want to introduce the environs of Restenford.  Warning this is a module that your going to have to invest in as a dungeon master. Its a dangerous second level module to start with.  There are also hints in the rumors table that original inhabitants of Restenford are not the original ones.  This brings up all kinds of possibilities for a DM whose willing to go several extra miles to take a good module and turn it into a great one. All of this can be tied back into Greyhawk as Gary Gygax has given the Lenore Islands a place within the confines of the iconic historical TSR campaign.
"The introduction of Lakofka's Lendore Isle to Greyhawk marked one of the first and largest additions to the campaign world by someone other than Gary Gygax. Lendore Isle had previously been set in Lakofka's own campaign world, part of a game that he ran primarily for the Nystul family from approximately 1978-1985. When Gygax was drawing up the maps for the World of Greyhawk Folio (1980), he offered to give Lakofka's island a place in his own setting, and thus the Greyhawk Lendore Isle were born."
But for the DM willing to take some time and really sink into the deep end of campaigning I suggest a visit to The Restenford Project blog. There all kinds of neat little resources for the taking.
When getting into the feel & take of the Lenore Isles a dungeon master should really look into the wiki entry on them. The fact is that the Lenore Islands have a completely different take on them then other classic era TSR adventures. According  to the  Wiki entry;"
In the Dungeons and Dragons World of Greyhawk campaign setting, the Lendore Isles, also known as the Spindrift Isles, are a collection of five large islands in the Solnor Ocean, just off the eastern coast of the former Great Kingdom. This portion of the World of Greyhawk served as the base of Len Lakofka's campaign, and is the setting of the L series of modules authored by Lakofka: L1 The Secret of Bone Hill,^[1] L2 The Assassin's Knot,^[2] and L3 Deep Dwarven Delve.^[3] Lendore Island began the inclusion of material from an author other than Gygax or Rob Kuntz to become incorporated into the Greyhawk setting.^[4] Previously unpublished materials from Lakofka's gaming sessions in the late 1970s and early 1980s were released in an article in issue 5 (August 2005) of the Footprints e-zine.^[5] Additional material, originally intended for release in L3 Deep Dwarven Delve was released by Lakofka in an article in issue 9 (December 2006) of Footprints.^[6] In 2006, Lakofka announced on the Pen & Paper website that he will be releasing L4 and L5 through the Dragonsfoot website, introducing additional material and adventures set in the Lendore Isles.^[7] A subsequent threaded discussion on the Dragonsfoot forum gave the title of L4 as "Devilspawn".^[8] Both L4 and L5 are now available on Dragonsfoot.^{[citation needed]} L4 is indeed titled "Devilspawn", and includes a second book, "The Lendore Isle Companion". L5 is a three-book set: "The Kroten Campaign Guide", "The Kroten Adventures", and "The Kroten Campaign Companion", plus a separate Map Pack."
You really have to read 'L4 Devilspawn' for the sheer brilliance of insanity that this adventure lays down. The Lenore Islands are way on the high fantasy side for my take. But all of the Restenford stuff is worth getting in my opinion from Dragon's foot & its free. Especially the map pack too.

So let's get back to the Sword & Sorcery end of L1 The Secret of Bone Hill. For using this adventure with Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea second edition & first off the elves are going to have to be changed to Hyperboreans. The second thing is that in the past I've used Restenford as a stand in for the town of  Saltmarsh from U1 'The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh.' There's a thread of corruption and depravity going all the way back to the founding of the castle in U3. This means that the land itself is corrupt & gives reason why the humanoids & wolves exist. There might be a mechanism generating these two by means of spontaneous dungeon life form generation first created by James Mishler 
One of the things I've done running The Secret of Bone Hill is to strengthen the ties between the Deep Ones and the wizard of the tower.That's straight up but let's talk about the undead which are really the key to Bone Hill. Not only are they dangerous & deadly but they lead straight into L2 The Assassins Knot. The wholly own the night in Bonehill & several 'new' types are described. The dungeons & its environs can easily be made to function as a sort 'Weird Tales', Clark Ashton Smith adventure pivot point.

Now let's talk about a monster who hints at far more danger bubbling below the surface of L1 'the spectator' looking like it belongs in a Big Trouble From Little China comic book. The spectator is a key monster that hints at powerful wizards who have made the town of Restenford & Bonehill their home. According to the wiki entry on the Spectator;"A spectator is an extraplanar relative of the beholder with four eyestalks. Somewhat mild and even-tempered, spectators have even been known to form friendships with other creatures, a trait that no other beholderkin or true beholder ever displays."  Somewhat mild & even tempered hints at an advisor or perhaps even a corrupter role for the 'spectator'. What sorts of sins and secrets has this monster seen? Perhaps it could even become a familiar to one of the PC's opening further doorways for adventure.


Is L1 The Secret Of Bone Hill By Lenard Lakofka a great module? Umm no its more of an introduction/source book  to the world of 'the Lenore Islands'. But it has the potential with the right combination of players & dungeon masters to a great campaign starter. The module can become a jump off point for all kinds of 'Weird Tales' style adventures with many of the resources out on the internet. As a mini sand box Bone Hill is not only a flexible frame work but can give you as the DM everything you need to continue your adventures within a nasty, dangerous & dark fantastic frame work of adventure.

I hope you make your saves & keep em rolling.
More to come!

Ecology of the Crab Men from Advanced Dungeons & Dragons First Edition & The Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea Rpg Systems For Your Old School Campaigns

So you thought that all of my posting about the 'U' series of modules and then The Secret of Bone Hill was over and finished? Well your Uncle Eric is back with a twist or two to bedevil your players with yet and it involves crabs. But this just doesn't involve just any crabs but space going Lovecraftian humanoids crab men from  Poseidonis. The U series main villains are the Sahuagin who once the characters have cleared out the entire run of the Salt Marsh run of modules. Who will fill the vacuum once they've been taken out? Well once again Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers comes to the rescue. The Referee's Manual contains one of the more advanced alien races are the Crabmen. These monstrous humanoids are actually an advanced race of alien humanoids who have settled in Hyperborea  from their home world  of Poseidonis in spacecraft.

 These humanoids are advanced tool users and have high technology, they're very weird and dangerous. Certain species of Picts worship these humanoid bastards and the Crabmen are expansionists  as well. With such a void left by the defeat of  the Sahuagin or Deep Ones this will be seen as weakness by the Crabmen who will see such a defeat as prime opportunity. The residents of Salt Marsh and the Lenore isles might be caught within a cross fire of such an underwater war. This is a prime opportunity to bring the PC's into the action where heroism might help turn the tides of blood back. These Crabmen also use laser pistols and more. They are are highly organized, intelligent, and dangerous to those races around them. Not to much is known about them though. There was some speculation among players of mine who have encountered them that these Crabmen might not be cognitive or even conscious in the traditional sense of the word. They could share a gestalt telepathic hive mind that centers around a higher controlling intelligence. These beings might have different species or rolls within the Crabmen's hierarchy or colonies.

 Crabmen are prime opportunists of the highest order looking out for the needs of the colony and creating soldiers, workers, hivers, and others as the details of the colony's needs dictates.
There are certain conceits within the text of these monsters but why would they bother with the humans around them besides being prime sources of protein? For that we must look to the original source material for the Crab Men. In this case its the Fiend Folio from Advanced Dungeons and Dragons first edition. The original Crab Men worker class is described as attacking anyone who might have silver or silver items upon their person? Why would a species of aquatic humanoids be attracted to silver a metal which has the properties of purity and luster according to myths and legends? The Crab Men of the First Edition Fiend Folio attack anyone suspected of carrying the metal. " Crabmen greatly value silver and will go to any lengths to obtain it, even attacking a character suspected of carrying any item made of this metal. In normal circumstances, however, they are quite pacific creatures, though from time to time an instinct makes them leave their coastal dwelling to mount a savage raid inland, roaming in bands of 30 or 40 creatures and pillaging all property in their path, not hesitating to attack those who would defend." The answer is quite simple really the commonly encountered Crab men are workers who have an inbred instinct to collect the metal for their colony. 

For ages silver has always had an association with magick & mysticism as well as the occult. The crab men use the material for time space gates in their space craft's faster then light drive systems, it holds a special religious place because of its significance within their lives. Live, breed, and continue to expand. The interesting part is the fact that the Deep Ones have kept the Crab men in check all these years in the U series and the Sinister Secret of Salt Marsh. Other OSR campaign settings and retroclones spring to mind,especially those of a weird or dark fantastic bent. Imagine Crab Men coming to shore off the coast of Spain ala 2001 Lovecraftian horror film after the Deep Ones have been defeated to slaughter anyone left on shore. The Deep Ones might be the only thing keeping these things from expanding onto the harbors and dry land. Shades of Lamentations of the Flame Princess or Realms of Crawling Chaos from Labyrinth Lord suddenly spring to mind here.

What will happen now that the Deep Ones have been defeated and their colony's machinations have failed? How will Salt Marsh, Restenford, and the Lenore Isles cope? Well my dear friends that is going to be up to you and your dungeon master.


Please note that none of this speculation and campaign notes are a part of the main story line or Setting of Hyperborea or of the Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea game. Nor is this an attempt to violate the trademarks or copyrights of the holders of that game nor of the U series of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons modules or the L1 series. This is all of my own invention for a personal table top rpg adventure campaign. This post is for entertainment and educational purposes only.

Retro- Review & Dark Fantastic Campaign Commentary On L1 The Secret of Bone Hill For Advanced Dungeons and Dragons First Edition

Well, I wrote the reviews and background of U series of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons First Edition adventures but I almost left off L1 The Secret of Bone Hill by  Lenard Lakofka for PC's level two to four.  The cover blurb is classic Eighties TSR;
"Danger lurks in the Lendore Isles. Bands of evil creatures prowl the hills overlooking the town of Restenford, seeking unwary victims. Now you have come to this sleepy little village looking for adventure and excitement. You seek to fathom the unexplored reaches of Bone Hill and unlock the mysteries of Restenford."

Here the PC's adventure in and around the fishing port of Restenford and the sandbox nature of L1 comes out very quickly. The mini campaign setting settles itself right around the Lenore Isles and is more of a mini sandbox dungeon then anything else.   Restenford a small town that has secrets and many of them are deadly. This adventure was a revelation to me as a dungeon master perhaps more so then Keep on The Border Lands because of the fact that you've got an entire community with NPC's, small back histories, and not one or two small dungeon locations.  But  several locations  with a main bit of dungeon crawling at the adventure location itself.
 I knew  Len Lakofka's name in wargaming circles for years, the man knows his stuff and then some. The Secret of Bone Hill was an adventure location from his own home campaign which later on became part of his own Lenore Isles campaign it was run for the Nystul family from approximately 1978-1985.
Bone Hill is a wholly realized community in the sense that its a sort of AD&D Lovecraftian Peyton Place. There are secrets within the confines of the module's location, its peoples, and some really strange background elements. Everyone within the module has stat blocks including guards, innkeepers, cooks, etc. This alone makes it a fun walks through for the DM but there's more to it.
There's a certain dungeon or adventure location ecology to the place the bug bears hold Bone Hill during the day and then the undead come out to play. There's also a weird sense that something very weird and tragic happened here ages ago and the party is coming in late on the events. There's a weird horror to it that echos some of the eeriness of Sinister Secret to Salt Marsh. Its also low level and very friendly for dungeon masters who want to introduce the environs of Restenford.
So what does all of this have to do with Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea and the previous articles on adapting the U series? Quite a bit actually, there is as I a sense that the inhabitants of Restenford are not the original settlers of the place. There's a weird Lovecraftian style of history to the place born out of the extensive rumors table and subtle background hints in some of the dungeons and adventure locations  in the adventure.  The Restenford project has a vast amount of resources for the DM who wants to adapt this adventure as the town that described in the Sinister Secret of Salt Marsh. One of the things I've done running The Secret of Bone Hill is to strengthen the ties between the Deep Ones and the wizard of the tower. This gives a far more eerie take on the events of U3 and takes the PC's deeper into the mysteries that L1 presents. This means that the succession of wizards, the corrupt king of the castle and more all have back ties to the founding of the castle.
Then there are humanoid races and tribes in the area as well as the all pervading sense of evil to the castle and its surroundings. The magick and corruption of Bone Hill speaks of chaos and weird horror from foul sorcery heavily influencing the location. Men and elves have recently occupied the location but the locals don't even seem to be aware of why? Then there's the spectator which is only summoned to guard very valuable treasures for over one hundred and one years. Who in the succession of wizards and undead has summoned such a horror and why? This would be a fourteenth level wizard or highe, this is not a light weight spell caster. This is a gray wizard of considerable power and occult knowledge.
There are other adventure events going on here such as why humanoid tribes and wolves are stacked up on one another and how do they exist? My solution to this was the spontaneous dungeon life form generation first created by James Mishler  This is not only happening but replenishing the ranks of the local gnolls, orcs, and other humanoids while the undead of Bone Hill own the night and are mostly unchallenged.

This gives the adventure location of Bone Hill some horrific background elements and history but it also creates a perfect breeding ground for more adventures in the hills of the place amid the lost ruins and weird locations. There are several smaller dungeons in town that hint at not only dangers below the town but a sense of corruption that creeps just below the radar of the town itself. This includes a new monster called the 'spectator' a beholder kin who has several interesting features that fits more into the realm  of the film 'Big Trouble In Little China' then AD&D.  There are several monsters from the OSR or AS&SH that can easily take the place of the spectator if necessary.

What the spectator really points out is the presence of some very powerful black wizards or neutrally aligned wizards in L1. A trend that would continue with the L series as we shall see soon in other entries. Bone Hill and its other adventure locations hint at some very dark history in its background. This fact can easily be used to re enforce the dark connections between the the sahuagin or deep one communities off the coasts of the Lenore isles. This face can easily be exploited to give a game of Lamentations of the Flame Princess a much more grounded and dark fantastic nautical feel. I myself did this by placing the Salt Marsh and its setting materials into a twisted version of Earth using the coast of Spain as the stand in. The 2001 Spanish horror film Dagon takes place in "Imboca", a Spanish adaption of "Innsmouth".




But I digress from my original take on The Secret of Bone Hill, its subject matter and very nature
Puts the entire Secret of Bone Hill and the 'U' series into the AS&SH pulpy Weird Tales wheel house but  the locations of Restenford and the Lenore isles as a whole can be ported directly over to Hyperborea without a single tear drop. This option enables a dungeon master to tie all of the loose ends of the 'U' series together in a nice single wrapped up campaign ready to play. Now I've heard several folks ask me about higher level adventures and actually Mr. Lenard Lakofka  with the addition of the L5 series which takes place entirely within the Lenore Isles themselves. This is a free addition that can not only continue the adventures but to help fill in some of the missing bits and pieces of The Secret of Bone Hill. As a mini sand box Bone Hill is not only a flexible frame work but can give you as the DM everything you need to continue your adventures within a nasty, dangerous and dark fantastic frame work of adventure. More coming up soon.