Star Without Number Revised Campaign - Mixing Trey Causey's Strange Stars & Terra Arisen rpg - Synthborg Capture Session Two

 This session picks right up from here on the blog.  We made our way to the Human Empire's fleet. 

  We popped into the Human Empire's fleet and dropped our cargo. They paid us and we moved on. 
Our truckers moved through the hyper spacial gateway. And then our navigator flubbed up on the navigational rolls. 
Things went from bad to worse! 
The truck flipped into a hyperspacial shunt. We almost slammed into a number of hyperspace bound asteroids and planetoids. 
Our party managed to instantly get deeper into the hyper spacial shunt. And then a series of piloting rolls got them into a hyperspacial shunt tunnel. We placed our passengers from the Alliance into cryo. 

We took a hyperspacial shunt tunnel into a new area of space and this was my opportunity. We introduced the Synthborg campaign as our truckers were captured by Synthborg forces and had our truck taken away after being captured by Caliban bounty hunters 

 The players seemed to think it was the Zeta Reticulan royals  that set them up somehow. The PC found themselves aboard a Synthborg prison ship and on their way too a planet side mine! The Synthborg guards were amused by the party arguing themselves. The party's cyberdeckers started getting the party loose from their cells as fast as possible. They then made their way down to the prison ship's ship's holding area to grab their space hauler. As soon as the party left the hauler came under fire. We lost FTL drives, the sensors were on line, but we lost primary controls. Our hauler made for the nearest habitual planetoid. And lots of piloting rolls were made. The hauler made planetside but it's in bad shape and systems are very damaged. 

Amazing Adventures Rpg Session - Yellow Musk Terror & The Jungle Dragon Encounter - Sleepy Time At The Garage Session Four

  Our party decided to check in at the garage where we were getting our vehicles worked on after the last session. Hanging around the garage were mutant mercenaries and they were armed waiting for us. We didn't want to deal with combat right after the encounters in the wastelands last session.  These mutants were looking for trouble and had two heavily muscled lizard men mutants among their ranks. 

 We think that these lizard men mutants might be with the local demon lord's army. And since we didn't want trouble we tossed in a bunch of sleep gas grenades that we found in the ruins. 

And then we contacted the local sheriff and these cretins locked up. Turns out that there was a reward for the capture of the three mutant outlaws! They were not happy at all that they'd been captured! They wanted violence and murder! What they got was a jail cell. 
And this is when we ran into Sir Amico The Brave a paladin who had crossed over into the wilds of post apocalyptic 1989 Earth from Greyhawk! We picked him up at the sheriff's office where he'd been helping out with little problem with 'night demons' around the town. The night demons are  from the Amazing Adventures Manual of Monsters.

 We then got reminded that our party had three of our number committed to taking on the mutant wrestlers in town at a no holds barred match! Battle Arena of Mr. Millennium adventure is back on the table top! 

Star Without Number Revised Campaign - Mixing Trey Causey's Strange Stars & Terra Arisen rpg - Space Trucking Session One

 So our gang of miscreants pulled into The Wheel an interstellar trading post. This blog entry picks up from here on the blog.  We loaded up the space hauler John T. Booker which we picked up in contract from an independent outfit. Eventually we'll get our own hauler. 

Aboard the Wheel we got our cargo to run it to the Zeta Reticulan former colony worlds through the hyperspace shunt called The Arch. 
The Arch is a deep interstellar artifact millions of years old. Aboard the Wheel we took on the Distraction a voidglider mercenary. The flock of   Voidgliders Vacuum-dwelling sophonts are common sights within the void of interstellar space. 
The Distraction had charts of several sectors including where we were headed. We were concerned about the fact that there was a fleet of Zeta Reticulan military saucers camped out near the colony worlds.  We used our deckers to enter cyberspace and communicate with the Zorta Cetti fleet about possible pirate activity. 

  The pirates are a mix of former human slaves, hybrid Zeta Reticulan refugees, and criminals who have banded together to prey on any incoming traffic. We would be given an escort by the military fleet.  We also were approached with a group of  Zhuzzh traders working with the Alliance.  The Heri Zhuzzh compact is moving  through the hyperspace gates trading, collecting, and even bringing alien passengers such as those from The Alliance into Terran space.

 We caught up with the fleet after going through the hyperspace gate and met up with the escort and the Heri. We got another hauling contract after this one. Met with Terrran Empire officials over hauling cargo and two VIP's from the Alliance into Terran space. We ended here. 

Amazing Adventures Rpg Session - Yellow Musk Terror & The Jungle Dragon Encounter - Session Report Three

 Tonight's Amazing Adventures rpg campaign went in an interesting direction as we began to deal with the wastelands around the city & here's where things got interesting with our PC's stumbling upon a jungle dragon feasting on the corpse of a deer. The jungle dragon is from the Amazing Adventures Manual of Monsters & this monster was clustered around the ruins of a former skyscraper.

 Our Castles & Crusades adventurers were not impressed with this jungle dragon & we had our Elven archers positioned near the head of the monster. The adventurers were seeing shiny mini hoard of artifacts that the jungle dragon was using to luring a mate. 

The second we closed in and the jungle dragon became aware of our intentions, it's second 'trick' became apparent. All around our party were the undead corpses  of  past victims who began to arise! That's when we saw the strange vines growing through the flesh of the jungle dragon! The horror was living in symbiosis with a Yellow Musk zombie plant & in command of those minions. They closed with our party! 

The rest of the evening was spent in combat with these monsters avoiding being infeccted by them. We concluded that the jungle dragon's hoard of artifacts was not worth this hassle. The Yellow Musk Creeper is of course from the classic AD&D Fiend Folio. 

On our way back to town we stumbled upon a small set of ruins and came across a medikit, medicines, and more minor artifacts. Back in town we traded these artifacts for fuel for our vehicle. But we've still gotta deal with the mutant wrestlers and horrors of the wastlands coming up! 

Star Without Number Revised Campaign - Mixing Trey Causey's Strange Stars & Terra Arisen rpg -Terrans & Reticulans -

So I've been thinking of the 'problems' of adapting the Terra Arisen campaign setting into Trey Causey's Strange Stars material. Which  consists of  Trey Causey's 'Strange Stars' campaign  setting & 'The Strange Stars OSR rule book'.  So let's make that distinct right off according to the author 'You need the setting book to maximally utilize the OSR rulebook.'

 

Strange Stars is like a smoke ring from the 70's or 80's from the fevered mind of its author, and its a graphic as well as artistic slight of hand trick of a laser sword of retro science fantasy gaming goodness. Terra Arisen is written from the perspective of a galactic sector that has recently thrown off the yoke of oppression from the Reticulan empire. Seems like these two would be incompatible right?! Wrong, the Zhuzzh are the insect alien race  who can mend these two campaign settings together. 

The Zhuzzh are a precursor interstellar race that has only recently on a galactic scale gained sentience as we humans know it. They are interstellar scavengers and collectors of technology which they trade among the other races. They move among the stars like interstellar tidal dwellers going where and when the hyper spacial trade winds take them.  And this might also include those cybernetically, & psionically modified humans who now count as technology to certain  Zhuzzh factions. Especially those factions who use the hyperspacial gateways of the Strange Stars setting. 

Away from the prying eyes of the Terran Federation  and the Reticulan clans the Zhuzzh are free to trade, buy, and modify these specimen humans to their hearts content.  Remember the Reticulans have been completely taken aback by the violence that humanity as a whole visited upon them. We talked about this last time on the blog here.  To the alien races of Strange Stars the Zhuzzh are simply another alien race of traders with some local sector issues. Their more then happy to buy cybernetically modified super soldiers & refitted humans who can fight their wars, explore, mine, and more. The events of the Scream and other intergalactic events of Stars Without Number are ancient history to the races of Strange Stars. The universe moved on and the aliens got on with life throughout the galaxy. 
The Zhuzzh traders move through the hyperspace gates trading, collecting, and even bringing alien passengers such as those from The Alliance: into Terran space. Ibglibdishpan find work in both the Reticulan and Terran Federation. 
The Terrans may be in for far more then they bargain for because of the influx of alien technologies, slaves, and more from the Strang Stars. We'll get into this next time. 

Star Without Number Revised Campaign - Mixing Trey Causey's Strange Stars & Terra Arisen rpg -Terrans & Reticulans

  Let's pick it up right from here on the blog for our  Trey Causey's Strange Stars Stars Without Number campaign. This ties in with  the Reticulans of the Terra Arisen campaign setting.The idea here is that the Reticulans control more then one of the hyperspacial gateways of their empire. 

The Reticulan empire is still economically solvent because of the fact that they impose a small toll on all interstellar traffic. This enables the empire to collect on resources, technology, and more through these tolls. 

The exports of the Reticulan empire include modified Terrans to the empire's client races. The Terrans are their own easily modified resource and they get farmed out to the modified races. The Reticulans see this as only natural. 
Cybernetic warriors, modified space going workers, etc. all are exported by the Reticulan empire. This idea and ethos something that the Vokun are only too happy to buy into. The idea of using another race to fight wars, take on the harder ideals of interstellar trade and negotiations. What could be better. Possibly making a profit. Here's where the Slavers of Strange Stars have come into their own by buying these cybernetically and biologically modified Terrans and twisting them further. Then selling them to their own client races and marking them up making a profit in the process. 

So is it any doubt as too why the Terrans have rebelled with such force against the Reticulan Empire?! The Reticulans are loathed by the Terrans. But it goes deeper then this. The Terrans are a reflection to a certain extent of the Reticulans having been deep in the trenches of the empire with the lesser Reticulans and their clans. The client races of the Reticulan empire are taken aback by the violence and cunning of the Terrans after the rebellion. 

How do the client races who use the modified Terrans feel about these recent current events?! This places the Terrans in a modified position. Well get into this next time. 

OSR Commentary on The Gunslinger Rpg Strange Science in The Arizona Territory

 "Gunslinger Roleplaying Game Core Rules

Welcome to the Weird and Wondrous Wild West!

Saddle up, partner, and prepare to embark on an unbridled journey through a science-fantasy adventure, inspired by the yarns of classic western lore and the pulp fiction sagas of the early 20th-century. Gunslinger, the thrilling roleplaying game, is here to send you on a white-knuckle escapade, galloping through the untamed frontiers of the Arizona territory in the era of the Wild West."

 Gunslinger rpg has been on my hard drive since 2023 by Thomas Denmark & it dives into the deep end of the Pulp Strange Science. How?! Because the hills of Arizona in Gunslinger are rife with tons of OSR tunnels and high weirdness! From aliens to American Indian giants hunting PC's, villages, towns, and more. 

So basically this is a Weird Western rpg with OSR leaning that goes heavy into the Old Western vibe. The character classes lean heavily into Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert E. Howard, and other Pulp writers  Old Western tales. And the PC's character classes reflect this: 

• Brave
• Doctor
• Engineer
• Gunslinger
• Huckster
• Muckraker
• Arizona Ranger
• Scout
• Cavalryman
• Greenhorn (0 Level)

These classes are perfectly suited to use with a 'weird west' style OSR adventure campaign. These are a solid juxtaposition to the Warriors of the Red Planet rpg   because mixing the two games gives a solid OSR campaign. This means that the action is located right in the Old West campaign setting. 
These adventure elements are straight outta of the ordinary and allow the DM to take an Old West campaign and inject the old school weirdness factor right in. The Gunslinger rpg have the monsters & horrors baked right in. 
So a DM can easily do  a 'The Valley of Gwangi' style OSR campaign where an isolated 'Lost World' adventure is filled to the brim with lots of old school Gygaxian style horrors. And this is the perfect place to put a Barsoomian or ancient Martian style dimensional gate. And here's where your Gunslinger rpg PC's could end up on Warriors of the Red Planet rpg Mars. 
So this expands the Night Owl Workshop style campaign range with even more adventure  possibilities. There are a ton of options that a DM can bring his or her players with this combination of games. 

Star Without Number Revised Campaign - Mixing Trey Causey's Strange Stars & Terra Arisen rpg

 So when it comes to our Trey Causey's Strange Stars Stars Without Number campaign I've been putting a ton of thought into adapting in the Terra Arisen campaign setting into being a hyperspacial gateway off ramp. 

The idea here is that Terra has just broken away from the Reticulans recently. And this has opened up the sector to trade to the realms of the Strange Stars. The Reticulans are still withdrawing from the backs of their human slave species. Humanity has been exploited by the local species on a number of levels. 

Meanwhile humanity itself has only recently figured out that it's not at the top of the alien life form apex. Our space truckers are pulling the humans into the interstellar scene! Tons of Transhuman post human alien species. 
And this means that the Terra Arisen Liberty Ships are crossing over into the Strange Stars campaign setting. The merchant trader version of the Liberty Ship. 

And I'm thinking of using the pirate haven of the same liberty ship as well. We've had interactions already in the past with a Vokun pirate lord who had a mysterious set of moving pirate bases. These pirate bases are going to be decommissioned Liberty Ship pirate ships filled with alien fighters. In the past these smaller fighters harried the our space truckers.  

I'm still figuring out the ins and outs of the Reticulan influences on their former empire and how the humans fit in. 

Amazing Adventures Rpg & Edgar Rice Burroughs's Pellucidar as An OSR Campaign Setting

 Edgar Rice Burrough's At The Earth's Core is one of my favorite books because of the setting of the fictional "hollow earth" land of Pellucidar. The prehistoric lost world of Pellucidar is perfectly suited to use with Troll Lord's Amazing Adventures rpg is a great campaign setting. 

"At the Earth's Core is a 1914 fantasy novel by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, the first in his series about the fictional "hollow earth" land of Pellucidar." from the wiki entry on the ERB book At The Earth's  Core. 
The Pellucidar setting has a huge number of prehistoric tribal nations from cavemen to fully Neanderthal tribal peoples. There's no real day or night in the world of Pellucidar except from a sort of star that hangs in the sky and has an erratic orbit. .
The biggest problem is the inclusion of magic and it's attendants into an ERB inspired world. Although this did not stop DC Comics back in the Seventies with Mike Grell's Warlord which drew quite a bit of inspiration from the worlds of Edgar Rice Burroughs. Pellucidar also may have baked in psionics. While a controversal in the world's most popular fantasy role playing game's circles. Psionic powers  look to be essential in  Pellucidar especially in ERBzine's article  Telepathy in Pellucidar. But how does a DM incorporate the fantasy element of Castles & Crusades into such a prehistoric setting??! Use another dimension (yes this is one option) but another is too simply make another continent within Pellucidar.

If Seventeenth century pirates can exist along side of prehistoric dinosaurs. Then it's an easy link to add magic and C&C style fantasy into a Lost World campaign. 
Page Eighty seven of Amazing Adventures Players Handbook goes into using C&C character classes in Amazing Adventures campaigns. 
So it's really easy to get into using your own version of Pellucidar.This is exactly what I'm going to be doing. 
Going forward my player's have been on my back to get back into a prehistoric version of an Amazing Adventures campaign. Over the years I've used Lovecraftian rpg elements into ERB style campaign worlds. 

In Between Here & There - Cities Without Number, Stars Without Number, & Trey Causey's Strange Stars Rpg - A Star Is Born By Joseph Mohr

 "Judas Bautista is an eminent astronomer and physicist at the Sonoran University. His theories on gravitational force and star formation are required reading for young science students at the university. He is the authority on most well known theories involving the subject in the sector."

"While in port the travelers see a job posting which offers good compensation for what appears to be a relatively safe mission for a change. The travelers would accompany Dr. Bautista on an expedition to the nebulae to send out some special probes to measure and study the nebulae" 
 Our session picks right up from where we left off last session!   We rushed our crewmen back to the Station GH-34 & get our injured medical attention. And that's where we picked up  Dr. Bautista on an expedition to the nebulae. This campaign is based on Trey Causey's Strange Stars OSR Rule Book We were in need of money after two of our jobs went South. However we were able to get money up front from  Dr. Bautistaq.
Repairs went fine on our space hauler and we were soon out of dry dock heading into space towards the nebula. We encountered our first ion storm! This played marry havoc with our instruments. 

Coming out of the storm we came upon a small fleet of pirates! Rather then get into a fight straight out of the storm, we parleyed with the pirates. And things went well we traded for supplies for information about the nebula.The space pirates used the nebula as a cover for thier activities. 

The pirates were interested in the probes we were carrying for launch into the nebula. Our parley yielded some solid exchanges and they gave us charts through the nebula.  Judas Bautista our scientist was especially interested in trading information with the pirates bio computer navigator & got into a deep discussion on star formation. 
We then went about setting up the probes for gathering data and nebula gas samples. And then launched them! Here's where we ended this week! 

OSR Campaign Commentary - Clark Ashton Smith's Hyperborea, The Weird of Avoosl Wuthoqquan, The (1932), & The Hyperborea rpg

 "Give, give, O magnanimous and liberal lord of the poor," cried the beggar.

Avoosl Wuthoqquan, the richest and most avaricious money-lender in all Commoriom, and, by that token, in the whole of Hyperborea, was startled from his train of reverie by the sharp, eerie, cicada-like voice. He eyed the supplicant with acidulous disfavor. His meditations, as he walked homeward that evening, had been splendidly replete with the shining of costly metals, with coins and ingots and gold-work and argentry, and the flaming or sparkling of many-tinted gems in rills, rivers and cascades, all flowing toward the coffers of Avoosl Wuthoqquan. Now the vision had flown; and this untimely and obstreporous voice was imploring for alms.

"I have nothing for you." His tones were like the grating of a shut clasp.

"Only two pazoors, O generous one, and I will prophesy."

• Weird of Avoosl Wuthoqquan, The (1932) By Clark Aston Smith 
• 
  

   Today on the blog I wanted to revisit Clark Aston Smith's Hyperborean cycle. Which we covered back in May 27,23 on this blog. And one of Clark's best tales Weird of Avoosl Wuthoqquan, The (1932) & how it could relate to the Hyperborea rpg. The implication in the tale is that the doomed money lender is very much a part of the cycle of destruction of Hyperborea that the rest of the tale's cycle covers. We get a guided tour of the hot volcanic & humid jungles of Hyperborea. And the implication is that fool's doom is sealed outside of the borders of Commorium. 
  Hyperborea is the seat of far older species then humans and this of course is the realm of the Great Old One Tsathoggua. Because this is exactly the sort of entity that Avoosl Wuthoqquanruns into and meets his doom with. 
  And it begs the question, did the Hyperboreans who settled within the borders of Hyperborea during the Miocene times on purpose? Simply take over a rich & fertile  area that had been the home of elder entities that was now at the end of it's cycle? Or did the gods plan Hyperborea as a part of a grander cosmic cycle?And where does this leave adventurers if the Hyperboreans fled thier old world of Hyperborea?
  Is the gateway of Sarnath actually a gate back to the frozen waste lands of Hyperborea now guarded by demons of  the Great Old One Tsathoggua & far worse entities? The frozen wastes could hold incredible riches that are claimed by the frozen monsters and horrors that hold them. 
  And this is the realm of the White Worm and it's pethora of horrors. These places could hold occult secrets and spells from the heyday of Hyperborea. This is a place rife with adventure possibilities. 

• 
  The Hyperborean wastland corrisponds to the ancient map of Hyperborea. Where ancient cities's ruins lay waiting for fools to venture in. 
  And then there's the fact that the gods or demons will seek back thier former offerings as our Avoosl Wuthoqquanruns found out. 
  The lure of adventure however along with the riches could prove far to much of a temptation. 
  And there there is the possibility of time travel with the spice of magic where the adventurers travel back in time to the heyday of Hyperborea. This could also prove diasterous as the doom of Hyperborea will not be denied. So thier own doom may come sooner then later. So the  Weird of Avoosl Wuthoqquan, The (1932) could act as a primer in the doom of those adventurers who seek the shores of Hyperborea. 

• 
  
  
  
  

Nice Doing Business With You - Cities Without Number, Stars Without Number, & Trey Causey's Strange Stars Rpg - Mirrors By Joseph Mohr - Session Report

 Our Cybersneaks started diving below the surface of the  the Circeans witches's terraforming delivery from last week's session. And when we went into the main delivery warehouse to check out the terraforming equipment for final delivery we were attacked by Hellhounds pirates! The witch's coven had paid for the terraforming equipment but there were two rider cargoes that had been added onto the terraforming equipment. That equipment's weight had been noted by our party's  Cybersneaks. And that equipment was more high end cloning equipment which is tied into last month's  the foreclose on Guiron which we stopped! 

We used a nanite grenade to disrupt the Hellhound's forms  temporarily and then sheathed them in an absolute zero field. This we knew from dealing with these two NPC's before wouldn't stop them. But it would buy us sometime to deal with thier employers the Slavers. We had an artifact saved just for this occasion and once again dealt with thier fixer & representive. Our party already knew that we had to make it worth thier wild. All of this stems from Joseph Mohr's Mirrors adventure available here. 

 Our party knows that the Slavers fear a law suit by Guiron people against the Slaver's Constorium for the use of an 'entropy weapon' ages ago. The cloning tanks, the planet terraforming equipment bought by the witches who were acting as blind for the Guiron people. And other anomilies that our party uncoverd pointed it out. Major Bartholomew Rodriguez and the Interstellar Police have deep seated interest in the entropy weapon  because this weapon system  could still be in system.
And that's when we started looking in system and found it on the third moon of Guiron! The Slavers had a small craft overseeing it. Our party contacted them and asked for the Hellhounds pirate's contract againt our party to be terminated the whole affair to be covered up. They agreed and we got proof of termination. We in turn took all of our findings and turned them over to Major Bartholomew Rodriguez and the Interstellar Police! 
Now it's onto the next job! 

In Between Here & There - Cities Without Number, Stars Without Number, & Trey Causey's Strange Stars Rpg - Fill Up By Joseph Mohr

 "The PC's space hauler needs a bit of a fuel up & overhaul. So after tracking down & almost getting thier faces melted off the party heads to a nice simple fuel depot. The party came across a gas giant that was wracked in storms and that's when the party came across the  Station GH-34I. "

"Fortunately, however, there are sometimes places such as Station GH-34I. This solitary station floats in a system in the Sonora sector waiting for ships that need refueling. Like days in the past this is a full service station. They not only refuel the ship but wipe the windows and check under the hood. All for 20% less that the going rate for fuel in the sector." This session picks right up where we last left off last session here. This session was based on Fill Up By Joseph Mohr. Which is actually really solidly done and of course Trey Causey's Strange Stars OSR Rule Book

 Station GH-34I proved to be far more then the players were expecting! The station is a free floating station in the middle of no where squared. The station is run by aliens & they're really interesting; "GH-34I is run by aliens. Specifically it is run by members of the Talamor Consortium. The Talamor are seemingly friendly race of aliens that love to trade. They have a fierce, lizard like, appearance. Despite their appearance they have not been known to have a violent nature." The Talamor Consortium are an ancient human break off colony that were genetically modified to work and live on a super Earth hundreds of years ago. The Constorium have taken to trading and aggresive pack mentalities when it comes to intergalatic trade. They are an up and coming race who are minor players on the intergalatic trade scene;"The Talamor are encountered all over the known galaxy. They are often found flying small traders and merchant ships. They seem to be welcome just about everywhere they.  Despite their friendly nature, and willingness to trade, they do not seem to be above trying to make a profit. They have often been accused of shortchanging customers or pulling a fast one to make a credit."
The GH-341 station features complete tech level 9-13 facilities for ship upgrades, maintence, and dry dock facilities. This also includes a holo and android brothel which the PC's took advantage of. 

The player's PC's started poking around the station and noticed signs for the casino, brothel, hotel, and ship facilities. The PC's wanted the space hauler upgraded and gone over by personel. 
Jerry and the psionist decided to 'keep an eye' on the star hauler. The party spoke with Carthan a Vokun empire representive who was selling some contraband terrraforming equipment. The psionicist reported that a Wanderer who was in deep orbit wanted to trade navigation information for credits.
And here's where the PC's ran into the fact that thier cybersneak detected a contraband cargo being loaded aboard the party's  space hauler by Talamor agents! The PC's confronted the  Talamor representive agent handling thier space hauler and the PC's were brought down too Operations for some face to face time. 
The PC's noticed the captain of the Eagle! A safari ship traveling through system on it's way to pick up a cargo of exotic alien animals for study. We might be able to pick up some work there. 
Our party  faked insult over the illicit cargo being placed on ship & they were able to arrange for medical attention for Jerry our cybersneak. Last adventure he'd been lasered in the back and requires extensive cybernetic reconstruction. This is going to require months of rehab and what not.  The cargo run was settled. 
And we settled on a legit job for the Talamor in exchange for the overhaul. Which we would be inspecting. Along with four extra days of R&R after last session. 

DM Paul's Hyperborea Rpg - U1 Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh & the Machinations of the Ixians - OSR Commentary

 "Desolate and abandoned, the evil alchemist's mansion stands alone on the cliff, looking out towards the sea. Mysterious lights and ghostly hauntings have kept away the people of Saltmarsh, despite rumors of a fabulous forgotten treasure. What is it's sinister secret?" 

Ages ago my buddy DM Paul took over a version of our Saltmarsh series Hyperborea rpg campaign. The campaign focuses heavily on the pirate & sailor aspects of the Hyperborean setting. There are ton of changes to the U series of modules for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons starting with the organization that the pirates belong to and working it's way down from there. Here's some of the changes: 

1. The Alchemist isn't dead and rotting in the 'haunted house' instead he's a high level lich running his criminal empire from the house. 
2. The pirates are a part of the Slavers of the 'A0 -A4 Against The Slavers' series of classic novels. The Slavers are a dimensional spanning organization that ranges from Greyhawk to Hyperborea. This council of slavers is simply the latest incarnation of the council.
3. The pirates employ local Viking and other raiders to take on raids for them. 
   
   
4. The 'haunted house' is located in Butcher's Bey with Saltmarsh itself being a smaller subset of the Bey. 
5. The pirates are most active during the Summer months and they have ties to the Ixians of Hyperborea who supply the pirates with most of thier magical muscle. 
6. Hyperborean alchemy plays a big part of DM Paul's campaign. 

Yes, I know there's a Hyperborea rpg Kickstarer on but this ties deeply into the Ixians agenda in Hyperborea. The Ixians trade in magical expertise and forbidden magical devices. The Ixians deal heavily in alchemy & work to expand thier influence among the Hyperborean ruling elite. This is because the Ixians  trade in items, magical favors, advisory positions and expertise. This has enabled these enigma peoples to be secreted in almost every high profile royal courts in Hyperborea. 

The Ixians use the pirates for clandestine missions that they pay and sometimes oversee through thier cat's paws. 

The Ixians are playing a dangerous game and have been using the pirates to seed a war between the humans & the Deep Ones.This war is being orastraded on the Deep Ones behalf.  This war is actually over the strange radioactive green crystals that the Deep Ones mine. The village of Saltmarsh sits on a depoisit of these crystals. And by returning the village lands to the sea the Deep Ones gain access. 
What do the Ixians gain out of it?! Several loads of Green radioactive crystals that are then used to grow Green or Greenite Lotus. A dose of this lotus enables one to endure without harm the sanity blasting radiation of the Boreas winds within Sarnath temporarily. The Greenite lotus must begrown on the decaying hills of the corpses of ancient wizards bathed in the radioactive green crystals weird radiations. A dose of Greenite Lotus enables the user to endure the sanity blasting boreas winds for one day per dose. But the imbuer must make a poison vs save or the poor wretch takes a lethal dose of radiation poisoning. Thier veins and skin begin to bleed out green glowing ichor. There are several ancient artifacts lost in the sands of Sarnath that the Ixians would like to recover