Adapting I7 Baltron's Beacon by Philip Meyers For Swords & Wizardry & The White Star Rpg

""A strangely delivered advertisement has led you to a sage named Demetrios. He needs a rare component to complete a desperately needed potion. The journey to retrieve it will take you through a large, unexplored swamp to a ruined keep, the former headquarters of a vile cult that once claimed the lives of many innocent youths."

"You cautiously accept the mission. But who knows what monsters lurk in the vast marsh? Are the old ruins occupied, perhaps by things even more dangerous than the previous residents? Beware, for the eerie green light shining upward from the central tower, the beacon that guides your way, may attract others as well. To succeed, you must penetrate the keep and find a unique Black Flame worshipped by the old cult. Could those evil ones be lurking about still? You will know soon..."
So I7 Baltron's Beacon by Philip Meyers came out in '85 or so, but we didn't get a hold of it until '86 or so. I7 is one of those modules that could be set anywhere but most often it either happens to be situatated in Mystara or Greyhawk. For us Batlron Beacon was situated & set within Greyhawk. 
That being said a few years ago we set Baltron's Beacon within an isolated & backwater world for the White Star Rpg. We kept Baltron being from Greyhawk with his history from the Greyhawk wiki's entry on I7 here; "Baltron (Baltronus Zemnus of Linth^[2])- a 16th level magic user, who inhabited the keep a year before the module starts, and was destroyed in an attempt to summon the spirit of the swamp,Nakimas. This created the beacon^(p.2). Dragon Magazine #304 states that Baltron first entered the keep 20 years ago (about 571CY) and was seeking the lost magic of the Suel House of Malhel in the Dreadwood^[2](p.90), while Living Greyhawk Journal #01 states that Baltron was banished only a few years prior to 591cy" We changed up the history of Nakimas to being a spirit of the Void & the keep being an old Void Knight fortress. I7 is a mid tier module and doublely so for a Swords & Wizardry or White Star party. This is because everything within I7 was expanded; "The keep and it's history was expanded further into Greyhawk lore in Dragon Magazine #304, Places of Mystery, 'The Hool Beacon'

I7 needs to take place directly after the events of  I2: Tomb of the Lizard King. The reason for this is the fact that I7 Baltron's Beacon by Philip Meyers is a classic Wilderness adventure. Everything about I7 centers around the whole of the Wilderness as foe & NPC. When we used this classic module for White Star we also had a gateway leading back to Greyhawk. This enabled the PC's to have a real connection with the events of the module. And also a perfect excuse if we want to transport the PC's over to Greyhawk. Once again we see the classic Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first edition tourament style rear it's head within I7. This can be used by the DM looking to exploit the black flame & it's connections to Demetrios- quest giver and eccentric sage. We kept certain aspects of Nakimas when using the spirit with White Star;"Nakimas^(p.6,21)- a spirit of the marsh, which Baltron believed was not an individual, but the composite lifeforce of the swamp. Dragon Magazine #304 states that Nakimas (Suel), or Bwimb (Oeridian), is a Mud Lord from the Paraelemental Plane of Ooze" The paraelemental planes have connections to the void because of their connection to elemental destruction and return to natural entropy. This ties directly back into DYS Games Between Star & Void within it's philosphy of the Star Knights & the Void Knights. With the Seekers party of adventurers becoming a possible rival party of adventurers after the events of I7. 

The cult of the black flame became a real thorn in the sides of our White Star party because they could & would crop up anyplace on any colony world or even on Greyhawk multiple times.

OSR Review & Commentary On The First issue of Ulfire Tablets, An OSR fanzine dedicated to Old School Science Fantasy Campaigning

 "This is the first issue of Ulfire Tablets, a zine dedicated to roleplaying in science fantasy / planetary romance settings! Try the vile Carcosan Chess, ride dinosaurs, play as (or consume) sentient fungi, read the mind of an ancient sorcerer, create objects of arcane technology indistinguishable from magic, and fight as a post-apocalyptic barbarian! 32 pages of content, mostly with OSR games in mind."

"This volume turned out to be a Carcosa special, but in the bleak future we plan to colonize other planets as well – Barsoom, Tékumel, Athas, Gamma Terra, or anything else along these lines. Get in touch if you wish to contribute gaming materials or art!" 

So I've been looking around for other LoFP Carcosa sources & came across a fanzine called Ulfire Tablets issue #1. And its a first strong issue with the insane Carcosa Chessmen article by  Tamás Kisbali & Bálint Biczók. This chess variant is really nasty & dangerous for PC & while its a throwback homage to Egar Rice Burroughs a 'The Chessmen of Mars'. Carcosan chessmen has some dangerous variants within its rules so use with caution. 
Carcosan Fungimen by M.W. Hess brings three brand new varieties of fungi warriors to the table top & none of them are going to be easy to deal with. The fiction piece is the Sorcerer King of Carcosa by Tulta about an aging Sorcerer king whose come to his final reward of old age but not all is as it seems. 
Parasaur mounts by M.W. Hess brings new dinosaur mount goodness to your Carcosa or Science Fantasy campaign.Science Fantasy Artifact Generator By Tamás Kisbali brings a solid science fiction & science fantasy artifact or technology generator to your games. 
Twenty Fighting Styles for Carcosa By Dan St. Cy brings home the rites & rituals of some really awesome alien fighting styles. Finally we get a very detailed review of Swords and Super-Science of Xuhlan: A Campaign Setting for Use with Warriors of the Red Planet, by Terje Nordin (2020); 46 pages. Reviewed by Tamás Kisbali who goes into some really solid detail about this forty eight page rpg campaign setting. 

The first issue of Ulfire Tablets, comes on strong with only a thirty page first issue and keeps up the weirdness for at least its entire run. The material here is solidly done with call backs to classic era resources & solid 'b' movie references throughout. The first issue of Ulfire Tablets, doesn't take itself seriously but treats the subject material as such. And it keeps its feet moving through the Science Fantasy material with very little let up. And this is solid move for a fanzine to take. All in all I think that the first issue of Ulfire Tablets, is worth your time & your attention! 

 The First issue of Ulfire Tablets, An OSR fanzine dedicated to Old School Science Fantasy Campaigning 

OSR Review & Commentary 'The Stars Without Number Equipment Database' By Angry Golem Games For Stars Without Numbers Revised Or Your Old School Campaigns

 When it comes to interstellar rpg games there's one thing that's always been a pain in the afterburner. That's the fact that there's never enough equipment to satisfy every science fiction or science fantasy fan. And this was something that came across when looking over Troll Lord Games's Starship Warden rpg book. Not that there isn't enough sci fi equipment & weapons. But enough to satisfy the sci fi fanatics? What to do?! Fortunately all of the heavy lifting was taken care of by ANGRY GOLEM GAMES. And their book 'The  Stars Without Number Equipment Database'. 


If your expecting oogles of sci fi artwork & fantastic equipment illustrations there's none of that. And that's fine for this sci fi rpg fan because we're interested in stats, suits, armor, weapons, & all kinds of mayhem inducing devices. And that's exactly what we get here! There are solid stats on, ' Armors, Ranged Weapons, Melee Weapons, Heavy Weapons, Ammunition's, Communications, Computing & Accessories, Field Equipment, Pharmaceuticals, Tools and Medical, Batteries and Generators, Vehicles, Drones, Droids, Cyberware and Misc. Equipment.' All of this comes in solid sixty two pages of ultra violence goodness that your PC's are gonna wanna use. 'The  Stars Without Number Equipment Database' isn't sit on shelf equipment & weapons but actual fighting & solidly made stuff that you can equip your PC's with or better yet your NPC's! 
There's enough in sixty two pages to get a full on adventuring group equipped & ready to start kicking alien or human behind. And its well done. The book is well laid out & very much up to  ANGRY GOLEM GAMES standards. 

The  Stars Without Number Equipment Database'  is sheer OSR & it's ready to go for those games easily. And this is something we find time & again ready to go for each of these weapons. The  Stars Without Number Equipment Database'  will easily work with OSR games such as Mutant Future or Stars Without Number Revised. 

'The  Stars Without Number Equipment Database' is a solid book which does exactly what it says on the tin & title. That is it gives you gobs of weapons, armor, & equipment for your OSR sci fi games & it does it well.