The Blood, Chaos, Passion, & Horrors of The Legend of El Cid For Your Old School Campaign

 

"He asked nothing but justice of Heaven, and of man he asked only a fair field."
Chronicle of the Cid, trans. Robert Southey (1808), Book I, §3, p. 4

A fallen hero, strange alliances, magic swords,mercenary warlords, violent triple crosses, & the fate of nations in the balance! The latest Hollywood thriller with a budget of millions?!  No one of the legends of the real world legends steeped in the blood shed of history.


Jura de Santa Gadea

Peeling back the pages of bloodshed & ancient history last night I came across my campaign notes on El Cid. The history, mythology, & legends of the Cid were something that grew up with. For me he's the arch type of the AD&D paladin without the baggage. Over the years I've heard El Cid's history compared to King Arthur's legends & mythology. A kingdom gained & lost along the trails of time. This is one national hero I've used time & again in my adventures & games. But who really was El Cid?



This simple blog entry can't go into the multi demensional history of the warfare & times that spawned the El Cid. He came from a time when the sword arm & warhorse were the tanks of their time. The heads of enemies decorated pikes outside of nation city state's walls. Wiki has a compact  breakdown but there are literally entire histories of the Cid as thick as a New York phone book;

"Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar (c. 1043 – 1099) was a Castilian nobleman and military leader in medieval Spain. The Moors called him El Cid, which meant the Lord (probably from the original Arabic al-Sayyid, السیِّد), and the Christians, El Campeador, which stood for Outstanding Warrior or The one who stands out in the battlefield. He was born in Vivar, a town near the city of Burgos. After his death, he became Castile's celebrated national hero and the protagonist of the most significant medieval Spanish epic poem, El Cantar de Mio Cid.^[1]

Born a member of the minor nobility, El Cid was brought up at the court of King Ferdinand the Great and served Ferdinand's son, Sancho II of León and Castile. He rose to become the commander and royal standard-bearer (armiger regis) of Castile upon Sancho's ascension in 1065. Rodrigo went on to lead the Castilian military campaigns against Sancho's brothers, Alfonso VI of León and García II of Galicia, as well as in the Muslim kingdoms in Al-Andalus. He became renowned for his military prowess in these campaigns, which helped expand Castilian territory at the expense of the Muslims and Sancho's brothers' kingdoms. When conspirators murdered Sancho in 1072, Rodrigo found himself in a difficult situation. Since Sancho was childless, the throne passed to his brother Alfonso, the same whom El Cid had helped remove from power. Although Rodrigo continued to serve the Castilian sovereign, he lost his ranking in the new court which treated him at arm's length and suspiciously. Finally, in 1081, he was ordered into exile.^[2]

El Cid found work fighting for the Muslim rulers of Zaragoza, whom he defended from their traditional enemies, Aragon and Barcelona. While in exile, he regained his reputation as a strategist and formidable military leader. He repeatedly turned out victorious in battle against the Muslim rulers of Lérida and their Christian allies, as well as against a large Christian army under King Sancho Ramírez of Aragon. In 1086, an expeditionary army of North African Almoravids inflicted a severe defeat to Castile, compelling Alfonso to overcome the resentments he harbored against El Cid. The terms for the return to the Christian service must have been attractive enough since Rodrigo soon found himself fighting for his former Lord. Over the next several years, however, El Cid set his sights on the kingdom-city of Valencia, operating more or less independently of Alfonso while politically supporting the Banu Hud and other Muslim dynasties opposed to the Almoravids. He gradually increased his control over Valencia; the Islamic ruler, al-Qadir, became his tributary in 1092. When the Almoravids instigated an uprising that resulted in the death of al-Qadir, El Cid responded by laying siege to the city. Valencia finally fell in 1094, and El Cid established an independent principality on the Mediterranean coast of Spain. He ruled over a pluralistic society with the popular support of Christians and Muslims alike.^[3]

El Cid's final years were spent fighting the Almoravid Berbers. He inflicted upon them their first major defeat in 1094, on the plains of Caurte, outside Valencia, and continued resisting them until his death. Although Rodrigo remained undefeated in Valencia, his only son, and heir, Diego Rodríguez died fighting against the Almoravids in the service of Alfonso in 1097. After El Cid's death in 1099, his wife, Jimena Díaz, succeeded him as ruler of Valencia, but she was eventually forced to surrender the principality to the Almoravids in 1102."
In old school adventure terms there's a ton of potential adventure hooks from taken treasures to the ruins of dungeon locations. El Cid's wrath knew bounds for he made warfare across the pages of history. There have been rumors of the treasure of King Sancho Ramírez of Aragon centuries. The cup of the Islamic ruler, al-Qadir was lost in the uprising of the Almoravids &  is still out in the Spanish countryside. There are literally tons of mini dungeons & other adventure ruins scattered in the wake of the Cid & the armies of his adversaries.


In  Lion & Dragon terms El Cid might be from a very long tradition of knights & warlords who were the resistance to the Elves of old. The demons from the Underworld & Hell have a long tradition in the Spanish countryside. There have been numerous legends & a rich tradition of Christian & Pre Christian heresies in the area enabling a DM to create mixed parties of adventurers to deal with monsters of Chaos & other horrors.
Over the years I've used a number of time lost warriors & knights from the court of El Cid in Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea second edition.

The +3 two handed sword Tizona, of El Cid has been passed into a national museum where its intelligent essence still sleeps.

"A weapon traditionally identified as El Cid's sword, Tizona, used to be displayed in the Army Museum (Museo del Ejército) in Toledo. In 1999, a small sample of the blade underwent metallurgical analysis which confirmed that the blade was made in Moorish Córdoba in the eleventh century and contained amounts of Damascus steel.^[13]
In 2007, the Autonomous Community of Castile and León bought the sword for 1.6 million Euros, and it is currently on display at the Museum of Burgos."
El Cid's other sword Colada is still lost or according to legend has been passed down the bloodline of Martín Antolínez one of the Cid's knights. This +2 sword of sharpness has a thirst for the blood of demons & dark wizards. There have been instances of these swords being used against monsters that could be straight out of a tale by H.P. Lovecraft.

 There several instances when various knights of El Cid according to legend fought a cult that seems to have been very similar to the cultists of A. Merritt's Dwellers in the Mirage.



The knights under the command of the Cid were violent, vicious warriors from a time when thrones made from the skulls of one's enemies were still the norm. The fact is that this was a time with plenty of room for both mythology & legend to mix into the paradoxes of history. The perfect frame work to add in your own party of adventurers or to take from the legends a bevy of opportunities for campaign elements or NPC's.

In Castles & Crusades terms these paladins & knights along with the fighters are the backbone of such a campaign. And these are going to be rank and file for crusades against far more entrenched cults and the like. This also means that rich lands could be up for grabs once thier cleared out. And this works well with the Castles & Crusades  Adventurer's Backpack. 

 El Cid takes the best of the Crusades and the elements of the Athurian legends. And there's plenty of room for campaign expansion. And this is also in the middle the events of El Cid's mythology that we as players encounter Elric and Moonglum. And this is where things got interesting when we went to recover a crusader's sword. We were able to recover it only after the two mauraders got a hold of an enchanted grail of Chaos. We slipped away from Elric's men while they dealt with the horror that was guarding the grail. 

Later on we would encounter El Cid's men and returned the sword to it's rightful owner's family. We were granted a 'small reward' in the form of a holy relic which actually was a powerful dagger that belonged to a saint. Unknown to the forces of El Cid the dagger was a relic of Law. And once again our wizard patron rewarded us richly. 

The Cult of Elemental Evil Rises - Looking At Lion & Dragon & Adventurer, Conqeuror, King's By This Axe

 So looking deeper into the lore of  ACK's By This Axe I Rule, where some of the Dwarven Kingdoms of  destabilized Europe are dealing with the rise of cult of elemental evil. This is something that we've covered on the blog here.  The tool of these forces of Chaos are of course the humanoid armies now under the effects of the increased spread of the temple's influence from Germany's Black Forrest.

The Old Race such as the Elves, Dwarves, and other races are acting through thier trade representives  in Europe and on the Silk Road ala Sword & Caravan. This is where the half breed races of the Old Races come into play. These are the traders, the entertainers, the courriers, the advisors, etc to all of the royal courts of Europe. And these PC's and beings are not necessarily the products of rape, or even intermarriage. They could be creatures of sorcerous origin ala the old European myths & legends of changelings. 

Alexander Marcus shared this earlier on Twitter and here we see the rules for ACK's crossbreeding of species. 

What's really important here is that for the forces of Chaos. They can literally generate pig faced Orcs, Goblins, etc. all quite nicely from thier generators. This helps to explain the rapid expansion of the humanoids found in B2 The Keep on the Borderland by Gary Gygx. The source breeds true of the alignment of the creation of the magus or arcane spell caster. 
Could these same rules also apply to shamans & the like?! They sure could if the DM wants them too! This opens up the floor for all kinds of humanoids crossbreeding  thier own champions. This coud help to explain the rising number of orges & near human horrors that Chaos armies seem to create almost over night. 

And these numbers of humanoids could be the raiders that could be cutting off the economic life blood of the Silk Blood to Europe. The forces of Chaos are literally tearing the economic life blood of the entire block of Western civilization. The edges of Western civilization might be ACK's Capital of the Borderlands. 

The edges of the Middle East could stand in for ACK's  Cyfaraun, ancient capital of the borderlands. The Roman empire is long gone and a moderate group of royals now rules the former empire of  Cyfaraun just before the Mongols take all much later on.The events after TSR's B2 Keep on the Borderlands remain. The events in Capital of the Borderlands take place as the two merge as the cult of Elemental Evil rises in both the East and the West. 
Raids along the Silk Road really begin to take thier toll as the humanoid forces wage both literal and ecnonmic warfare on all of Western & Near Eastern Europe. The Middle East takes centerstage. 

The old Roman network of fortresses becomes incredibly important and only with the Dwarven royals help can Europe be saved.

The Corruption of Europe in T1-4 Temple of Elemental Evil By Gary Gygax & Frank Mentzer - Looking At Lion & Dragon & Adventurer, Conqeuror, King's By This Axe

 So today has been a day where T1-4 Temple of Elmental Evil by Gary Gygax & Frank Mentzer has been on my mind. We're gonna pick it up from here on the blog.  Over the last couple of days we've been going over original Dungeons & Dragons. However something remains on my mind as a DM would the rise in humanoid populations dramatically within the campaign?! Possibly especially given the fact that events would center near the line of ancient human fortresses on the Borderlands near the Black Forrests of Germany. 

Because to the Dwarven nations of  ACK's By This Axe I Rule  these fortresses are brand new lines of defenses. And they can't understand why the humans of B2 & T1 have let these defenses go soft after the fall of the Roman empire. 
Is an economic downturn really what the cult of Elemental Evil wants for Europe?! In a short answer. Yes! Fast breeding humanoid cultures fresh out of the generation pits would be a horror to anyone they run across. The cult is trying to whip up any dark energies that they can. 
And this is something we see time and again with the Caves of Chao! The rise of Chaos in ACK's based games is centered around humanoids. And this could easily apply to the Europe of Dark Albion's setting.  

And this predicates the fact that many of the horrors rising within Europe could indicate that the ancient monsters know as dragons could awaken across Europe. And be ready to blast the advancing humanoid armies to restore the balance. And this ties directly into Sword & Caravan 's commentaries. The boundry of the Silk Road is more then a mere economic life line of trade in Europe. It could well be an ancient route where history and myth meet. The Romans knew it and tried to keep the ancient Pagan forces predicated. 

The cult of elemental evil's cultists have been working hard to corrupt officials across Europe. They work behind the scenes of both peasant & king alike. They bribe, corrupt, and bring to heel those they can. 
Asassinations, distruption of infrastructure systems, etc. are all through them where and when they can. 

The other forces that are on the move are the more covert menaces. The monkey wreckers and mercenaries who are only to happy to take the elemental evil's coin. 

Little do the 'useful idiots' realize just how disposable that they are. And the 'Elvish' race has little rational of it's place in the scheme of events as some groups of cultists are from thier ranks. 

Dwarves, Elves, and The Growing Threat of The Cult of Elemental Evil - Looking At Lion & Dragon & Adventurer, Conqeuror, King's By This Axe

 So let's pick this blog post up from here.  T1 The Village of Hommlet's events are happening deep with the Black Forrest of Germany. And while the rest of Europe is getting to engulf itself into war. The old races of Adventurerer,Conqueror King such as the Elves, Dwarves, and other Fey races are becoming aware that something sees it's opportunity to sieze Europe. If we go with ACK's By This Axe I Rule then the Dwarves really are one of the most advanced cultures under Europe. 

And is Europe actually in the middle of an economic downturn during the events of the Dark Albion rpg setting?! The facts presented within  Sword & Caravan might seem to indicate so. The trade of the Silk Road is helping to keep Europe's markets vitalized. And the barbarians see this as a prime opportunity. And what about the Elves?! The usual D&D Elves are not the wonderful stewards of nature that we usually associate with nobleness, goodness, and purity in ACK's or Dark Albion. 
Instead I'd say that the Elves have been literally living off the corpse of the ancient Pagan gods. God who were the original Elves that enslaved mankind eons ago. 

The Dwarves see through this ruse and so the friction that we've see over & over in popculture is solidly real. Why?! Because the Elven gods are locked out of our normal space time. The Elves of the ACK's Europe setting are ripe to be fed upon. Elves in this setting are literally a walking magical herd. 
And the cult of Elemental Evil are quite literally the Elven gods and worse waiting for the harvest. 

The Silk Road here in Europe is the literal life blood route for stopping the events of T1-4 Temple of Elemental Evil. Mankind is fighting among itself for the usual reasons & the violence has awaited it. War & violence call these dark powers like a starving man to a buffet. 

And we see that sucession, bloodlines, and more play into this especially in Axioms Issue 19: Cohorts & Dynasties.This can be a critical detail for PC's who are a part of the upper royal circles. Perhaps its only the rulers who are really aware of the horror that is growing in thier own backyards. And to what end?! Next time the cost of Europe in corruption & manpower. 

'T1 & The Elven Deception' - Lion & Dragon, Adventurer, Conqueror,King rpg, & Lamentations of the Flame Princess Rpg

 So let's pick this up from yesterday with T1 & why the adventure context is so important here. The implication in T1 is that Hommlet is tired & so are the adventurers. In point of fact thier described as haggard & down on thier last gold piece. This is a Europe ravaged by war. 
And this brings us to the Elves who surround this Dark Europe campaign. And here's where Lamentations of the Flame Princess comes into play just not in the way you might be thinking. 

In Lamentations because it's based on Frank Mentzer's B/X we have Elves who are better then you at everything. And this is as it should be. Elves are extremely long lived, they have better abilities then humans, etc. Why?! 
Because Elves are entirely alien to our space time continuum. This isn't hyperbole because within mythology they were. 
The Elven courts are trying to pass themselves as nobles & kings to heads of state of Europe. And for the most part they are correct they are. 
However the Elven gods were behind them & they were cruel. Cruel in every sense of the word. 
And the abuse continues right down the line here. The Pagan gods of old literally consumed the Elves as per the Lion & Dragon rpg. 

Here we go into the mythology of Elves and look into the Encyclopedia Britannica website's definition from here;"elf, plural Elves, in Germanic folklore, originally, a spirit of any kind, later specialized into a diminutive creature, usually in tiny human form. In the Prose, or Younger, Edda, elves were classified as light elves (who were fair) and dark elves (who were darker than pitch); these classifications are roughly equivalent to the Scottish seelie court and unseelie court. The notable characteristics of elves were mischief and volatility. They were believed at various times and in various regions to cause diseases in humans and cattle, to sit upon the breast of a sleeper and give him bad dreams (the German word for nightmare is Alpdrücken, or “elf-pressure”), and to steal human children and substitute changelings (deformed or weak elf or fairy children). In the British Isles, flint implements called elf-bolts, elf-arrows, or elf-shot (which are now known to be prehistoric tools used by the aboriginal Irish and the early Scots) were believed to be the weapons with which elves injured cattle. Elves occasionally also were benevolent and helpful. The second edition of Encyclopædia Britannica, which was published in 1777–84, calls the word elf obsolete but reports that belief in such creatures “still subsists in many parts of our own country. . . In the Highlands of Scotland, new-born children are watched till the christening is over, lest they should be stolen or changed by some of these phantastical existences.” In time, elves came to be indistinct from fairies, though both older classics—such as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s poem “Der Erlkönig” (“The Elf King”)—and such modern classics as J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings (1954–55) still treat elves as a distinct type." 

The Elves of the world's most popular rpg are literally former vessal Fairy states of the Old Gods. Royal vessals who have been filling thier ranks by switching out human babies for changlings. We know that the Elven strong holds are in England, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, etc. Yet why would the Elves be interested in human conflict & war?! Brecause for all these centuries the Elven courts of Seelie & Unseelie  been filling thier ranks with humans who have become Elves. 

The answers to these and other horrors are located under the former homes of the late Roman Empire. This was all explained away as 'barbarian invasions' & 'battles of historical conflict'. Yet ACK's Secrets of the Nethercity contains some truth of what the Elven tribes were up too. 

What do the Elven courts offer the heads of Europe during these conflicts?! Besides logicistical advice, war support, & magickal assistence?! Well, they offer the supernatural element all of the while fighting proxy wars through their human puppets. And entire villages disappear amid the fog of war & yet no one questions it. Those who adventurer are not even aware of the fact that this goes on. Elven adventurers are the exception and not the rule. They are seen from time to time acting as agents along the Silk Road for the Elven nations & as traders. 

Not all Elven nations are in on the use of humanity to stoke the fires of human civilization. And these are few & far between but they have their own problems with the Fey & the Unseelie courts (BTW human definitations). And the Dwarves know of all this & hence their contempt for the Elves. Axioms Compendium Volume 2: 9 - 16 contains the "“The Fetid Crypt of Anatu the Defiler”, an ACKS adventure; 9 new monsters, including faeries, nymphs, and nosferatu; 5 new character classes, including the dread priestesses of Nasga and the Nosferatu scion". This adventure reveals some of the underlying horror of the Elves past. 

You see the Elves have a secret & that is that they live in mortal fear of their ancient Pagan god masters returning. And no I'm not talking about Odin, Shiva, etc. No we're talking about the Chthonic gods here. The gods of Chaos & horror that unleashed the orcs & the black orcs on the Earth as well as the other humanoid races of ACK's. 
And T1 & B2 Keep on the Borderlands are ground zero for their return. The cult of elemental evil is alive and within the Moathouse in the Black Forrest. Because everything centers around Hommlet & that Keep in B2. But this is merely the beginning. Stay tuned as we dive further into this. 

T1 The Evil of the Moat House - Looking At Lion & Dragon & Adventurer, Conqeuror, King's By This Axe

 

So we're going to pick it right up from here on the Lion & Dragon: Medieval Authentic OSR Roleplaying By RPG Pundit. And this post here from a couple of weeks ago on the blog.  And incorporate a few ideas from last night's T1 Village of Hommlet blog post here.  Let's just forget Greyhawk for a second & imagine for a moment that we've got a Dark Europe here with Dwarves,Elves, etc. Screw Cowards of the Coast from now on. 

Now imagine that Dwarves are real and they've been around since the time of the very beginning of the world. They've watched mankind rise and fall again then the cycle start again. The Dwarves have been there since before the Floods & the fall of Atlantis. And their still in the Adventurer,Conqueror, King rpg game version of Lion & Dragon. They have colonies within the the North Pennines & Cumbria etc. in England.

They have withdrawn from mankind but occassionally act through human agents to sell their ores and wares. They do this all along the Silk Road discussed within  Sword & Caravan. Here we have a similar situation with the Elves. And then the ACK's dynamic changes because we see that Elves, Dwarves, etc. are acting through human agents. Kings & Queens are still seek these Elder Races out because of the magical qualities of their ore. Axioms Issue 17: Ore Never Changes goes into exactly what this does to a campaign.

 

And these ores have  been sought by Roman generals, Persian princes, etc. the lines are endless. Hence another reason why the Elder Races have withdrawn. But the spectre of war never changes & the effects on weaponry is explored in issue Axioms Issue 20: of Arms and Armor.

And while the spectre of war is looming all of Europe is not even aware of the greater threat looming within the Black Forrest of Germany. And that threat is evident by the Moathouse of T1. Europe has forgotten the cult of Elemental Evil which sent the whole of Europe burning ages ago. Humanity has a very fickle brain. And before that it was the Froggy cult which might still be out there. 

Looking At Lion & Dragon: Medieval Authentic OSR Roleplaying By RPG Pundit & Axioms Issue#19 For Adventurer, Conqueror, King Rpg

 "Lion & Dragon is a Medieval Authentic OSR game. Until now, you only thought you were playing "medieval fantasy"! With Lion & Dragon, the rules of the original tabletop RPG have been adapted to create a more historically authentic medieval experience, to reflect the grittier and yet more mythic world of a magical medieval Europe. L&D includes new rules governing social class and materials on culture to help a GM craft a world that feels closer to the world of the 100-years war or the War of the Roses. It has a grittier and more dangerous feel to reflect the cheapness of life at the time."


" Also included are sections on medieval economics, law & justice, and chapters with monsters and magical items based on authentic medieval legends. Finally, a completely revamped magic system is based on actual grimoire-magic as the medieval magicians really envisioned it. From the creator of Dark Albion, Lion & Dragon will have you discovering real medieval fantasy for the very first time. (Publisher's note: Lion & Dragon is a complete OSR game in itself. However, even if you prefer to stick with traditional fantasy RPGs featuring dwarves, elves, spellcasters, and the like, L&D can still provide a lot of options that will help you give much flavor to a more usual campain world. For example, the sections on alchemy, herbal medicines, poisons, or law & justice, could be imported in any other fantasy game.)"

Now that the Cowards of the Coast business has died down tonight I've gotten back into the Lion & Dragon: Medieval Authentic OSR Roleplaying By RPG Pundit. Why?! There are several reasons the least of which is the fact the magick system has everything we need for a ritual magick system that catters to the Medieval gamer crowd. A crowd  whose looking into the same terrority that we've done with Dark Albion in the past. And the real question becomes can we add bits & pieces of Lion & Dragon into Adventurer, Conqueror, King over the next few months. The short answer is yes.
And the reason for this is wanting to work with Sword & Caravan as a campaign setting. And most of this is of course at this particular time a mental exercise. 

There's lots of opportunities in Sword & Caravan to drop several of Axiom Issue # 19  rules for  dynasties, including birth, succession, blood rights, and more for establishing familial trade dynasties within several Silk Road locations. ACK's brings the details while Lion & Dragon brings the Medieval grittiness. There have been rumbles of merchant commerce & the PC's wanting to trade on the Silk Road far more then we've done in the past. 

Medieval China offers plenty of opportunities for both adventure & as a possible fantasy location for PC's to get into a wide variety of trouble. ACK's is a huge scope & breath for OSR adventuring. The  roles of crusaders, priests, monks, smerchants, or explorers are primed for a campaign of exploration & opportunity. 

Review & Commentary On RPGPundit Presents: The Old School Companion 1 From Spectre Press

 So tonight in my email I find that the other half grabbed me a pdf copy of  RPGPundit Presents: The Old School Companion 1 from Spectre Press. Basically what this book is a complation best of The RPG Pundit Presents which supports the Lion & Dragon Medivalauthentic rpg but it also supports other OSR games as well. The Lion & Dragon rpg is set during a real medieval historically accurate fantasy setting during the events of the War of the Roses. RPGPundit Presents: The Old School Companion 1  clocks in at 266 pages of solidly done material with a nicely done layout, clean lines, & easy to read sections. There's even an index! 

This book isn't just some cheese the 'best of' complelation book but an actual sourcebook with material selected to enhance the Lion & Dragon rpg. The  RPGPundit Presents: The Old School Companion 1 is a solidly researched & very well laid out book. It lives up to the quality of Lion & Dragon quite nicely. 

The first thing we get is brand spanking new character classes. The courier is a PC class  whose machinations &  maneuver within the court is going to allow the PC's perhaps to get the backing of the crown if their really lucky. This is a class where the social structure of the court is going to be very important. The priest class in Albion is far more important then it seems & this class can represent anything from the humble village priest to the bishops in court. This is very important class in a medieval setting where quite literally your fortunes sometimes depended upon the support of the Church. Sages are another class that is one of th fulcrums of society during this time & they can be very important to the interior of a party of adventurers. Craftsmen are the unsung heroes of the world of the medival. Everything from boots to weapons are the realm of the craftsmen not to mention the interaction with the guilds. The archer is paramount to the warfare of the day esepecially during the War of the Roses. Here's where the archer PC ties back into the  longbows/crossbows, advanced critical tables, domain management, and mass combat. This is a theme that we'll see throughout the  RPGPundit Presents: The Old School Companion 1. The book presents these alternative & expanded rules with gusto & a real sense of danger to the PC's. This is done with the critical tables taking center stage! The critical tables are top notch & top drawer here. Very well done & solidly exacuted. The domain mangement rules are top as well because warfare, country up keep, local economics all play a central campaign & setting role.
One of the places that the  RPGPundit Presents: The Old School Companion 1 really shines is the presentation of the supernatural & the occult. The book grabs the reader by the throat & presents new options for Chaos & occult depravity within the Albion setting.
 

Hellmouth not artwork from
 the RPGPundit Presents: The Old School Companion 1 
Spellbooks and  grimoires are abosolutely dangerous to life & limb. The supernatural lurks around every corner & the expanded options for the Magistars for the system are not only impressive but very useful at the table top level!
This take is expanded into the ideas & management of the wizard's spellbook; "The role of a spellbook has been largely unchanged in most OSR rules systems. A wizard’s spellbook is where he stores the spells that must be memorized every day in a Vancian system. Other than that, it doesn’t do anything. It should not surprise anyone that this has no grounding in historical medieval/renaissance magic. It’s also kind of boring. This is a reinvention intended to make a spellbook more useful and more central to the magic-user experience, one founded on historical magical diaries." The idea here is the wizard's spell book becomes an object for adventure unto itself. This idea was put forth in the Lion & Dragon rpg really finds its legs here.
The  grimoires finally get their due in RPGPundit Presents: The Old School Companion 1;"
Grimoires were the key magical texts of medieval European occultism. They were not spellbooks in the OSR sense, nor were they really magical handbooks. The key training in magic was given through word of mouth, from teacher to student. The Grimoires, rather, were the collected and disseminated works of advanced magical techniques; sometimes devised by a single author and sometimes compiled by various sources. To use them, you had to already have the basic training, which wasn’t explicitly given in the books. Instead, studying the Grimoires provided new techniques for magic-users to learn, if they could get their hands on it. The Grimoires presented here are based on real historical Grimoires, adapted in ways to be useful for an OSR campaign."

One of the most dangerous of the grimoires get's its due & that's  the Goetia; 
"This grimoire is the summoner’s mother lode. It details the techniques for summoning seventy-two different demons, each with special powers. These demons are chaotic and dangerous, requiring great caution when dealing with them. To summon them, the magician must draw both a protective magical circle for himself and a warded magical triangle (which is where the demon will appear) in a room for this special purpose. Then a sigil of the demon’s appearance is placed in the triangle with incenses. Finally, incantations are made to summon the demon by its name. Each summoning costs about 300gp for the required inks and incenses. It is also necessary to design and consecrate a special ring, amulet, censer, and plate, for a combined one-time cost of 1,200gp." Yeah these are magical & occult operations that should only be performed by Ablion's courtly wizards. But a copy of this book falling into the wrong hands could kick off an inquistor campaign or adventure. This section is extremely detailed & highly dangerous to PC's. So its great to get the forces of Chaos stirred up in a campaign!
 The Book of the Art of Hours could give an adventurer some very dangerous influences if used with the subtly & a bit of wit. Many of the grimoires featured in the RPGPundit Presents: The Old School Companion 1  tie into the sections on the Astrology, the Arcana, & an actual workable section on the Tarot. I really like a well done section on reading & using Tarot cards.


Not artwork from the Companion but
Number 12, the Hanged Man,
the game of Jean Dodal (early xviii ^th  century )
We get section after section on various magical & occult grimoires with their occult mysteries, supernatural rites & dangerous entities associated with them. Each of the chapters on the Arcana, Astology, etc. all ties back into & folds into itself. All of this is really useful at the table top level & I can see using many of these systems in other old school or OSR games.
Chapter five is where things begin to heat up for me as a dungeon master we get insight into the Church & how to use it in game. Common sense guidelines & rules to incorporate the Church of Albion into your home campaigns.
We get day to day activities that the PC's engage in & how this would fit into the life of an adventurer in Lion & Dragon; "Low-level characters are generally focused on mere survival, combat, and adventuring as they rise in power when playing Lion & Dragon and other Medieval-Authentic campaigns, such as those set in worlds like Dark Albion. At some point, however, players are likely to be interested in developing their characters beyond the immediate concerns of any given session. The following guidelines detail a few of the things on which mid-level characters with time on their hands may focus, as well as the kind of attention those sorts of characters could attract." Everything from PC homelessness to running a mercenary unit are covered. Costs of living, in between day to day life is covered. Even how to hand the official wizards of Albion is covered here;"Magisters with experience in the arcane arts are highly valued as scholars. They usually gain the opportunity to take teaching positions at their alma mater (whether Oxford or Cambridge); in the later period of the campaign, new positions open in Middleham Collegium. Magisters of at least Level 6 are the most-likely to be offered positions, but lower-level magisters of exceptional fame and reputation may also be offered the same. Characters who are notorious for their infamy, lack of piety, or corrupt morals are lesslikely to be offered positions"
Gangs, big business, even how to run a Church priority  is covered here. And yes these sort of day to day details need to be covered especially in between adventures.  Noble attention & favor is also covered in gory detail. The patronage of a noble can make or break an adventurer. Remember life is cheap especially during times of warfare. Inheritence for PC's is covered as well this is often something that could lead to money & even monster slaying. Merchant & caravan activity ties right back into the craftsman & merchant PC classes at the beginning of RPGPundit Presents: The Old School Companion 1. Everything from setting up at a new market to shipping out to the dark European Middle East is covered which could lead to more adventure for the PC's.
Courtly life & intrigues is a chapter unto itself & it adds another dimension to the life of minor nobles, royals, & more in the courts of the princes & noblemen.
Rounding out the book is a chapter on the realm of the Fae! Finally we've given a deep dive into the world of medival authentic supernatural realms of the Fae & man is it dangerous. The realms of the Elves, faerie animals, entities, dangers, encounters, etc. all round out this chapter. We are given more side  glances into the occult realms of the Fae & the Elves. Its well done, researched, & with plenty of hooks to get the juices flowing.
Cursed artifacts is another section & there's plenty of danger & deadliness in the examples  given here for these dangerous magic items. There's a boat load of trouble for the DM who wants to add a touch of malice, danger, & even a bit of whimsy in these items.
Finally we get a boat load of trouble in the form of sinister supernatural wilderland encounters & these are very well done! I can see using these with other OSR games such as Castles & Crusades. I can also see the RPGPundit Presents: The Old School Companion 1  being used to enhance other OSR settings such as MonkeyBlood Design Midderlands. It would be very easy to slot many of the systems into the setting to get a fantastic over arching campaign!



All in all I think that the RPGPundit Presents: The Old School Companion 1 is well worth your time & money. I think this is a five star book because it adds not only new optional material to the Lion & Dragon rpg but it could be easily used with other OSR rpgs to add even more bang for the buck. The companion could easily be used to enhance say a game of Castles & Crusades from Troll Lords or even Dungeon Crawl Classics! There three things to remember here. My wife knows of my love of the Lion & Dragon rpg. She spent her money sight unseen & knows the quality of Rpg Pundit's products & didn't think twice. On the whole I think that RPGPundit Presents: The Old School Companion 1  is a five outta five product.