Commentary On The Fiend Folio For 1st Edition Advanced Dungeons and Dragons For Your Old School Science Fantasy Campaigns

 When it comes to the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first edition Fiend Folio there's something to remember about the monsters. These monsters have a completely different feel then thier American counterparts. This makes them ideal to use with Science Fantasy rpg's. Now I've talked extensively about the Fiend Folio on this blog. 

This is especially true of the OSR based games such as Stars Without Number where the creatures & monsters can easily be stand in's for alien creatures and monsters. 

Stars Without Numbers the number of systems that have been isolated by the Scream is numerous. We have no idea what or whom has been trapped. 
This makes perfect fodder for having the humanoid tribal  races that are in the Fiend Folio to the forgotten & fallen remains of alien empires. 

This goes back to something I said in my commentary on the Fiend Folio; "The Fiend Folio is the forgotten Monster Manual and the monsters are easily discounted and overlooked. This makes perfect fodder for the DM to use them and reintroduce his or her players to the terrors of them. " Stars Without Numbers has numerous space dungeons & ruins baked right into the campaign background. And this same principle applies to the undead of the Fiend Folio; "This book has some great undead in it and they are so great to add into post apocalyptic games such as Mutant Future and Gamma World as needed for alien planets and ruins. Yeah, there's a bit of science fantasy over flow with Fiend Folio and the gonzo factor is such an appeal here" 

Coming across a Vodyandi on a waterworld someplace in the interstellar back of beyond would cause quite a stir among players. The Fiend Folio has mostly been forgotten by today's fifth edition & Shadowdark crowd. This makes it a perfect suppliment to get a second life as a post apocalpytic or Science Fantasy supplement. 

Let's go back to our friend the Voyanoi here for a second. These alien horrors could have been bred by Interstellar Kua Toa and used as muscle, guardians, etc. The empire dies off and this leaves the ancient guards still going about thier duties. There's plenty of  life in the Fiend Folio as a supplement for OSR Science Fiction games. This brings up the encounter tables in the back of the Fiend Folio; "Fantastic encounter tables in the back of the book make dungeon and wildness setting design and monster placement a snap. This keeps things moving at the table during play. "

And this is doubly so for OSR Science Fiction games where a fast moving encounter can mean the difference between a successful game campaign and the loss of a player. 

Retro- Review & Dark Fantastic Campaign Commentary - T1 The Village of Hommlet For Advanced Dungeons and Dragons First Edition - Updated

 

There are classics and then there are modules that you know someday will comeback to bite you in the ass. For me this is one of those modules, Hommlet is one that I grew up on and grew into playing it again and again. This is a module that seems on the surface to be a simple little adventure but its not. This is an adventure set in the World of Greyhawk that came straight from the foulness of time. I've had more PC's die here then the Temple of Elemental Evil. Why you may ask? Well let's peel back the layers of time and go back to Seventy nine. I'm nine years old and I've ready been playing the grand game since I was a seven year old. Does this make me a veteran or a fool? More the fool I at this time. Hommlet is supposedly this sleepy little pess hole of a pseudo European village written by Gary Gygax himself. Let me tell you something I'd had five PC's killed in that damn moat house then in any other dungeon. Over the years I've returned to Hommlet like a lone care taker to the Overlook Hotel in the Shining. The Village has everything dungeon master could want to flesh out a home base for his PC's. The entire village is filled to the brim with colourful NPC's their motives, quick cut stat blocks on them. Hidden little details and subplots straight out of a Gone With the Wind novel. Seriously its all there and the village is detailed quite nicely. So what's my problem with Hommlet? We'll get to that shortly don't worry let's begin our trip down to the Village and what's happening around the place. Hommlet was a big deal back in the misty annals of history because of the Temple of Elemental evil, yes that temple. The mega module that packs in the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons players time and again. Well what Keep of the Borderlands is to Basic Hommlet is to Advanced.  There are several classic bits at work here, Hommlet is supposed to be the base of operations for your PC's or is it? There are several key things going on in the village, you've got the Druidic faith clashing against the new upstart religion here the Church of St.Cuthbert. That's right out of the gate that this little simmering rivalry is going on. A bit of background on that particular god according to Wiki; " Gygax, with tongue in cheek, created two gods: St. Cuthbert—who brought non-believers around to his point of view with whacks of his cudgel"
Then you have the villagers themselves and they are fully formed NPC's with a full range of motivations, small NPC's sketches and more to them. And they happen to be a few tricky and cagey apples in the bunch as well. Those out to part you from your gold or your head as well. The village will live and breath according to the dungeon master's skills at role playing.




The Village of Hommlet has grown up around a crossroads in a woodland. Once far from any important activity, it became embroiled in the struggle between gods and demons when the Temple of Elemental Evil arose but a few leagues away. Luckily of its inhabitants, the Temple and its evil hordes were destroyed a decade ago, but Hommlet still suffers from incursions of bandits and strange monsters.
Now in my mind, the ruins of the Moathouse are completely separate from the Temple of Elemental Evil, there was a six year gap before we say the Temple as an adventure. So like many other dungeon masters my friends and I connected the Hommlet with village from Keep on The Borderland. Because Hommlet breathed and pulsed with life in the hands of the right dungeon master. This means that in the hands of a good DM Hommlet can live on in retroclone games such as Lamentations of the Flame Princess, Labryth Lord, OSRIC or Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea. The reasons for this are very simple the history, backdrop, and locations of Hommlet translate over into back part of each of your campaigns. Because the NPC's, setting, etc. are so well done. This also means that the adventure itself stands on its own merits.

There's no reason really given for the PC's to go to the ruins of the moat house once an outpost for the Temple of Elemental Evil. Well, actually there doesn't need to be. The PC's own greed over the years will do it each and every time. Mention treasure and they'll be over there quicker then spit. Sigh, the moat house has haunted my dreams for more then thirty years. Its shaped my dungeon design more then almost any other modules except for Keep on the Borderlands and In Search of the Unknown. The place is a vermin infested pess hole of the worst type and easily one of my favorite dungeons. Undead, horrors and  weirdness abound in its layered rooms. There are weird connections between the main NPC villain and Lolth something that I would exploit for the Queen of the Demon Web Pits. Basically the Moat house is a mini snap shot of  what a dungeon can be. A foreshadowing dire evil and chaos rising from itself again.



As other reviewers have said the moat house is really the center adventure location here;
"The adventuring locale provided here is the Moathouse - a ruined outpost of the Temple of Elemental Evil, some two miles away. It is a small keep-and-dungeon environment of some 34 encounter areas in size, containing 17 combat encounters: the upper level contains some bandits and a lot of animal-type encounters; the lower levels contains humanoids, undead and the New Master: Lareth the Beautiful."  or is it?
Taken as a whole the module provides just about everything that the DM needs to flesh out his own locations for the PC's to adventure within a 200 mile or so radius with locations and NPC's looping back onto themselves. This is a techique that saw and still sees use today with adventures. James Raggi's Lamentations published  adventures uses it, as does Venger Satanis and even AS&SH uses a similar approach for adventuring.It gives the PC's an anchor and a way of having a stake within the local campaign setting. Gary Gygax might have noticed this techique happening within the more successful miniature wargames he was involved in. Play a four to six hour historical or fantasy based war game and they seem to take on a life all their own. And that right there is the essence of why T1 has endured all of these years because it makes the PC's have an investment within the confines of the setting as well as incredible greed.



So how do you weave Hommlet into your favorite retro clone? Well, the adventure's 'short comings' become you the dungeon master's hook for reeling the party into the darkness of the Moat house.
"That is with the New Master, Lareth, Beloved of Lolth. At this point, we begin to wonder what Lolth has to do with the Temple of Elemental Evil. Alas, that was never answered: later releases derailed that plan, and we come to the greatest problem with the Village of Hommlet: as it stands, it's meant to be part one of two modules, the second detailing the Temple of Elemental Evil. Unfortunately, the second part never got released by Gygax, instead being completed by Frank Mentzer five years later, and much that we'd expected to see based on this adventure was missing."
Alright so Hommlet was meant to be a part of something great blah, blah, and that second part never got released. Alright so, simply take Lareth, Beloved of Lolth and grow a demon worshiping cult of chaos around her. Make the bandits her henchmen, the vermin and monsters of the Moat house mutants and mutations attracted by the black magick she's using and away you go. The Moat house suddenly has more then a simple reason to exist, its got history and a backstory to it. For a game like Lamentations of the Flame Princess Hommlet can easily be moved to central Europe around Romania, or Russia, perhaps Spain or France but it suits the material fine. And that's another thing about these modules the classic frame work spun within them remains classic. Hommlet remains vital because it flexes with the DM's needs for his players.



I've had two friends sneer that I wouldn't have the guts to give T1 the same treatment that I did for the 'U' series and L1. Well, guess again folks, this isn't as easy a module as you might think for four or five 2nd and third level  PC's this one is challenging as heck.
So what is the deal with T1 and Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea? Hommlet becomes much easier to deal with then you might think. Hyperborea has a very dangerous and deadly underworld written into its background. Underborea is about as dangerous an underworld as your going to get and the evil of T1 fits it like a glove, the cults and weirdness bubbling up from under the moat house can easily fit into the occult and weird happenings of AS&SH with little problem in point of fact they sort of demand it.
This module also features some of Gary Gygax's great descriptions of the moat house itself but there's a sense of the weird and perverse about the place.
"The bogs here stink, and the vegetation appears dense and prolific, but somehow sickly and unhealthy, creepers and vines throwing their strangling loops over the skeletons of dead saplings and living bushes alike. The rushes and cattails rustle and bend even when only a slight zephyr blows over the marsh, and weird bird calls, croakings, and other unwholesome sounds come faintly across the fen."
And yes I totally stole that from belst8  from Grognardia. There are several reasons why here; 1. Its a great quote but it also illustrates something I've always believed that the underworld is the rotting birthplace of Chaos and corruption in dungeons. Go deep enough in a megadungeon and it will connect with the underworld of the Inner Earth of a campaign world. Two the Moat house is the first indicator of the deeper happenings and almost virus like birth of horror happening within T1. This sort of a thing would later be seen in another classic module from the Seventies, Keep of the Borderlands. Three the moat house foreshadows things to come in Temple of Elemental Evil or your own mega dungeon creation. There are monsters whose ecology we will look at tomorrow folks.


Do I think that T1 is still viable as an adventure? Yes, classic remain classic for a reason and my five dead or undead PC's can attest to that. There are some reasons why I love these modules. Flexibility, high octane sword and sorcery action, a sense of the classics and roots of D&D and AD&D and more. T1 the Village of Hommlet remains a favorite of mine and one that I return to again and again.

Free OSR PC Resources With First Edition Character Classes By Leonaru For First Edition AD&D, OSRIC Or Your Favorite Retroclone

 A couple of years ago I needed a first edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Samurai character class for a remake of Akira Kurosawa's 1954 Japanese-language film Seven Samurai as an OSRIC one shot adventure. Now I've been a fan of the class since the original NPC class appeared in the pages of  Dragon magazine as a sub-class of the fighter in Dragon #3 (October 1976). Fortunately I was able to not only find that the class had been done for me for zero edition, AD&D 1st edition but second edition as well. It was also done very well and for free. The pdf comes with everything including the samurai's weapons, armor, and equipment.

You Can Grab All of PC Classes of Leonaru
right over here!


Leonaru also did a reworked Monk class, scout, barbarian, knight
& even alchemist for second edition  & even a duelist class for those Romance era types who want a sword swinger from Old Europe.  The classes are well balanced & can be used creatively to fill in a number of holes in a campaign for even NPC classes where necessary. Finally there's the Samaurai's old friend the ninja in zero edition flavor warning the Ninja class is over powered compared to some of the other styles of classes available & the class is done in a very cinematic style. The pdf of the ninja contains everything from equipment, tools, weapons, tactics, and more.

Finally Leonaru did the Full Metal Plate retroclone which has a few twists & turns on the world's most popular fantasy role playing game. You can check it out for free here  or you can buy a copy right over here.
Now these character classes can be added quite easily into the wastelands of your favorite post apocalyptic old school campaign for some extra cheesy weirdness or these classes could be used to represent some twisted version of Old Earth culture. These classes can easily be added into your favorite old school campaign for a twist on the usual PC classes that one finds in the various editions of  Dungeons & Dragons. Many of these classes are perfect for representing memorable NPC's. Anyway you slice it these are another welcome addition in the old school DM's arsenal of tricks to present to players. 
He even did a decent Lovecrafian monster book
with some of the usual Lovecraft alien races.

Mystically Bonded War Bears For Your Old School Campaigns

 A noble creature has come down from the Hypborean mountains, and polar regions, the ancient Atlantian war bears & their mystically bonded companions are once again appearing upon the stage of Hyperborea and the ancient pocket realms. 

Measuring up to fifteen feet in length is the uplifted Atlantian war bear, a rare species of hunter, companion, and very loyal being. These once plentiful guardians and companions to the Northern Altantian warriors have since retreated to only pockets of woodland and temperate forests. These bears mystically bond with nearby tribal Norsemen who are descended from ancient long lines of warriors stretching back to before the destruction of Atlantis. These noble animals were once the ancient enemies of the the guardians of the shrines of Xanthoqqua, whose sacred cave bears still haunt his temples and shrines. 

These bears are ferocious warriors who mystically bond with their owners/companions for life and share a deep and abiding telepathic link that transcends time, space, and distance. The Atlantian war bear measures fifteen feet long and weights up to 1,400 pounds. They have a keen intelligence, strong almost supernatural sense of smell, and a bite capable of sheering through bone and flesh with easy. Some tribal warriors ride these animals into war while other tribes uses these guardians and companions as warriors in their own right. 

The Atlantian war bear 

No Encountered 1(1d4)

Alignment: Neutral with good tendencies

Size:L 

Movement: 60 

Dex:10 

Armor Class: 6 

Hit Dice: 8+5 

No of Attacks: 3 (claw/claw/bite) 

Damage: 1d10/1d10/2d6

Saving throw: 14 

Morale: 9 

Experience points: 1000 

Treasure class: -  

Those who undergo the ritual bonding with an Atlantian war bear share their life forces with the animal's for life. This gives the owner an extended life expectancy of 1d30 years but the companion to this beast also gains the quick temperament and outlook of the animal. The owner must roll their wisdom at times to keep their temper in check during moments of violence. Bears will bond with rangers, fighters, shamans but never berserks because the spiritual rage of these warriors is far too extreme even for these beings. War bears will sacrifice their lives for their friends and family but will not throw their lives away. Should they be killed there is a 20% chance that companions will go into a spiraling depression and apathy that will continue for 1d6 years. Those who sub-comb to such melancholy will never be right again.

Those bonded to such animals gain an incredible sense of smell, and have the tracking ability at +4 but they also have a weakness for plundering food and as such are not often welcome into civilized areas even by their own tribes. They have a weakness for pies,treats, and confections of all types. They also gain the low light vision ability common to the bears enabling them to see in near total darkness. 

Against certain demonic and dangerous supernatural entities the real power of these animals becomes evident. They gain a +2 against such horrors and will fight to destroy such entities. They loath all things of the Outer Darkness and the Abyss having a supernatural ability once per day of sniffing out such creatures and their works.

1d10 Random Catacomb Treasures & Finds Table For Your Old School Campaigns

 

Ancient Tombs & catacombs are always places of local legend & surrounded by clouds of myth. This table will help to bring the other half of the equation of terror & danger to your table top. 

Adventurers are always stumbling across weird and ancient catacombs, places where the piled treasures of forty thousand years or more have been buried with royalty, scoundrels, and the rich of ages past. Here are then items of legend and mythology to cross the paths of your adventurers. 

1d10 Random Catacomb Treasures & Finds Table

1. Jade statuary of some ancient god thing that has stood the test of time and now waits for someone to come across it. This 4000 gold piece worth of statuary is actually the resting place of a Type V demon who waits to enact a curse upon the head of some would be thief. 
2. A set of Canopic jars containing the mummified brains of some ancient android A.I, the things are still alive being products of super science. They will have a malevolent and mad personality as well as 1d6 random psionic powers. The jars are worth a cool 700 gold pieces each and form part of the alien A.I. mind of this ancient creature. 
3. A set of bronzed and gold bones belonging to some ancient and horridly dangerous ancient yeti. They are worth 300 gold pieces but carry a special blood curse upon them. 
4. A small copper short sword that has within it the soul of an ancient king, the hilt is in laid with finely worked ivory and gold work. But the hilt itself is hollow and contains within it a gem with weird properties worth 600 gold pieces because of its clarity and mystical abilities.  
5. A small cask of ancient and potent healing droughts mystically suspended against the ravages of time decorated in silver and jet. There is a geas upon the object to do charity works in the name of some  extinct god. The cask is worth 400 gold by itself and another 6000 because of the 1d10 doses of  potions of healing light wounds within it. 
6. The bronze and gold head of some ancient and extinct god worth 600 gold pieces in the form of a mask. There is a 20% chance of someone being possessed by an ancient toad demon trapped within the confines of the thing. Only a special quest will remove the thing from the flesh of the fool donning it 
7. A set of seven weirdly constructed jars of cut crystal that contain the essences of ancient and clever ghosts  of guardian wizards. These horrors will rise from beyond the grave to devour the souls of the living. The jars are worth five hundred gold pieces as a set to the right collectors. 
8. An ancient and broken magical sword whose trapped demonic inhabitant waits and wails beyond the pale for someone to stumble upon this golden and steel weapon. The demon will try to possess the first wizard or thief who comes across it. The materials of the sword itself are worth 2000 gold pieces to the right wizard. 
9. This is a moldering text of an ancient spell book with 1d8 ancient necromancer's spells. The book itself is actually the flayed soul of a rival necromancer bound into his own skin. The thing bleeds on occasion and feels itself decaying. It may if picked up by another necromancer reveal some of its ancient and horrid secrets of its extinct cult. 
10. A single chess piece made from the cut thigh bone of an ancient giant, this piece is actually a key that fits an ancient wall passage to a hidden and very dangerous gallery of forbidden and weirdly created artwork that draws upon the strange alignments of the stars that opens gates to Hell and the Abyss. Anyone standing within these places will have their souls carried into the after world by force by vile demons. The chess piece changes appearance and function depending upon the time of day and to the right collector is with 600 gold pieces to those who know what it is.
    

I8 The Ravager of Time Adventure By Graeme Morris and Jim Bambra For Advanced Dungeons & Dragons First Editions And Your Old School Campaigns

"So this is the Ffenargh? Mile after mile of stinking bogs overlain by a swirling mist that clings to the skin and chills to the bone. Ahead, a decrepit causeway rises scant inches above the fetid waters and meanders its way through the twisted forms of stunted trees into the depths of this forsaken land.

For years, these blighted fens have been ignored by the outside world, but now an urgent summons brings you into the Ffenargh, to the Court of the Lords Spiritual at Eylea. A foul murder has been committed. Geoffrey D'Arcy, Lord of Myrkfast, has been slain by his own son and you are called upon to find out why.

Death has always hung heavy over this mire, but now an ancient evil has returned to haunt the mist - an evil whose icy fingers reach out to crush any who dare delve its secrets. You, who have faced death a thousand times, meet it now in its most terrible guise. Can you defeat it, or will you fall victim to the Ravager of Time?"

GRAB IT RIGHT HERE

This is a dark and gritty UK adventure set against the stinking fens and bogs of Ffenargh. A setting right out of the imagination of Robert Howard's Solomon Kane adventures. The grittiness of this adventure rings right straight through even as it uses monsters straight out of the Fiend Folio and Monster Manual II. This is an adventure that I've seen used with  the Rune Quest Third edition, the Warhammer Fantasy rpg  and ported over to The  Palladium Fantasy Rpg  as well as Advanced Dungeons and Dragons first edition. Well see why in a moment.

"So this is the Ffenargh? Mile after mile of stinking bogs overlain by a swirling mist that clings to the skin and chills to the bone. Ahead, a decrepit causeway rises scant inches above the fetid waters and meanders its way through the twisted forms of stunted trees into the depths of this forsaken land.

For years, these blighted fens have been ignored by the outside world, but now an urgent summons brings you into the Ffenargh, to the Court of the Lords Spiritual at Eylea. A foul murder has been committed. Geoffrey D'Arcy, Lord of Myrkfast, has been slain by his own son and you are called upon to find out why.

Death has always hung heavy over this mire, but now an ancient evil has returned to haunt the mist - an evil whose icy fingers reach out to crush any who dare delve its secrets. You, who have faced death a thousand times, meet it now in its most terrible guise. Can you defeat it, or will you fall victim to the Ravager of Time? "



An adventure for 6-10 characters of levels 8th to 10th.
There's always been something different about the UK TSR's efforts and this one is no different, I've seen this module described as the bastard child of  Shakespeare meets sword & sorcery with an English twist. Wiki actually sums up the British sense of this module quite nicely;"The adventure is a TSR UK branch production and features non-player character types, expository style, atmosphere, and situations that are notably different from many of the game modules created in the US."
This module is full of casts of characters with back story, twisted motives, and monsters lots of em and pay close attention to those PC levels because they mean it. There something really twisted about this module, maybe its the monsters or the main villain or the fact that it can be ported right into a few of the other swamp based modules that I've talked about. The adventure is clever and doesn't talk down to its audience at all, in point of fact it takes the dungeon master and expects them to take the PC's and throw them into the dark alleys of old age.
Here's the break down according to Wiki;"Ravager of Time is set in the Ffenarch. The Ffenarch is a dismal, boggy environment with only some small areas of firm ground. The player characters are hired to search the fens for a lord's son who killed his father. While searching, the characters become entangled in an evil plot that is tainting Eylea."
I8 takes your PC's by the short hairs and knows that your outlaws and adventurers. You're expected to have your characters use commonsense and there huge swaths of this adventure that are complete railroads but that's because this was a convention set up back in Eighty Six. Again this is a part of the TSR UK formula from the D&D Classics website;" Like most of the TSR UK adventures, this one is plot heavy, featuring numerous NPCs; a jury trial; and a life-draining sorceress, the eponymous "Ravager of Time." All of the adventuring occurs in towns or wilderness, without a dungeon to be found. This would all be much more typical of the TSR adventures of the 90s, but in the 80s it was almost exclusively the domain of TSR UK and (to a lesser extent) Tracy Hickman. Like many of the other TSR UK adventures, this one makes heavy use of monsters found in the Fiend Folio (1981) and the Monster Manual II (1983)."  But does this make the module bad or unplayable? Not at all, in point of fact Ravager of Time captures and encapsulates a certain time period in writing and game design. The plot, the writing, and adventure are a trial by fire in sword and sorcery terms. The country of Ffenargh could be in central Europe someplace in the 1400's with its gritty trappings and plot that could easily be ported over to Lamentations of the Flame Princess or Dark Albion. Yes I must sound like broken record but believe me because of the familiar nature of royal plot, the dark background adventure elements, twisted motives for the NPC's and the events of the backdrop this adventure fits the contents. Its also a tightly written affair and still widely regarded by the OSR community fondly.
There are three real reasons to use this particular module : 

1. The Ravager of Time has a very dark resonance with its audience and a pulpy grittiness that really tests players to their limits. Because the setting is generic you can drop this adventure into any campaign world and it will work. 
2. I8 has lots of investigation, hunting, and is a real mental workout it can be customized for DYI work and can be broken and still work for your old school or retroclone campaigns. 
3. Because of the connection with both the Monster Manual II and the Fiend Folio lots of old favorites show up and can actually get a deadly workout at the table lending this module a bit of an old world horror flavor. Bring spare characters and sheets, PC's should be of the appropriate level. 

So would the Ravager of Time be a good fit for a game of sword and sorcery pulp action for a game such as Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea? The short answer is a solid yes and the reasons why are very simple. The adventure is distinctly British in both tone, artwork, feel, and content or at the very least pseudo historical in its treatment of Ffenargh. The setting could easily be work of Celtic settlers in shattered shadow of Lemuria, Atlantis, or Hyperborea from Old Earth. The motives and feel of the adventure is sort of a woven dream of a corrupted pulpy landscape pregent with adventure waiting for the right match to come along and set the campaign on fire. This adventure has the feel and elements  of Mac Beth set against the world of Howard and Lovecraft. But this is an adventure for experienced players and PC's in every sense of the word.


Forget the usual solving everything with your sword arm and getting things done with a boot up a monster's backside. This adventure involves thinking things through very carefully and then taking swift action. Because this adventure came out in the shadow of the White Dwarf magazine era. I've seen this adventure converted over to Rune Quest and later on over to the Palladium Fantasy Rpg. This was because of the generic and well thought out way that the U.K. TSR crew put this one together. Its tightly designed, deadly as sin, and capable of taking PC's up a few levels and is a great jump off point for extended bits of old school campaign play. This is not an adventure to be taken lightly. I've seen several TPK's with I8 The Ravager of Time. Is it well done? Yes absolutely it is. Is it worth your time? Yes in a heartbeat. This is also one of the more reasonable used adventures on the open market clocking in at ten dollars for a used copy on Amazon.

Meditations On The First Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual II For Your Old School Campaigns

Uncle Eric is back with another mediation on the ancient and helicon days of gaming this time we're going to set the way back machine to October of '83 and if there was a year that gaming changed then this marked one of the releases of one of those game changers. I'm speaking of the original Monster Manual II.
This book was wall to wall interior  by Jim Holloway, Harry Quinn, Dave Sutherland, and Larry Elmore and there was a marked difference in the tone of the entire manual. This was the book that collected many of the monsters from the various old school Seventies and Eighties adventures that had proceeded it's release. It was way more interesting in certain other aspects as well, this book was and is an adventure construction set in many respects and still is. My copy of the MM II has been with me since I first picked it up in downtown Torrington back in '83 at a little downtown book shop that stood next to the Yankee Peddler Inn and that I skipped school to get the damn tome. Its been with me through ex girlfriends, an apartment fire, a tornado, the break up of numerous campaigns, friends, and more. But why? This book was and is still widely regarded by many Advanced Dungeons and Dragons players & dungeon masters but its also one of the most glanced over and half forgotten tomes today.


The Monster Manual II brings many creatures and monsters from Gary Gygax's home setting of Greyhawk into one venerable manual.It also mark's Gary Gygax's last major contribution to the creature end of the setting and  includes many old favorites, most of which were expurgated or "toned down" in the later, politically correct version of the game. Quite a number of monsters came  from S4: Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth, and a dozen new devils that had been first published in the pages of Dragon magazine. This book is widely regarded among my other DM friends as being one of the hands down most useful books to have at the table;"The book included random encounter tables for dungeon and wilderness settings built from the Monster Manual, Fiend Folio, and Monster Manual II" this alone makes it a very useful book. The DM can use this book only to build dozens of adventures not only for AD&D but also for any old school post apocalypse or science fantasy campaign.



The title was so popular that Wizards of the Coast used it on a three point zero title revamp in 2002, but that title didn't include all of the monsters from the original book. The fact is that the original Monster Manual II is hands down one of the best books to use to populate your dungeon or outdoor ruins or wilderness adventure locations. So is there another reason why the MMII is still popping up at tables across the world along side emulators and retroclones like OSRIC and the Labyrinth Lord Advanced Companion;" Like the Fiend Folio before it, the monsters in Monster Manual II listed the experience point value for each monster within the entry". This is a book with a very hands on approach and has a much more approachable feel to it then some of the later books from TSR that would follow it, its almost as if the author is daring you to use these creatures and monsters in your adventures. There's something that almost makes you want to take all  of these creatures and make them your own. This one of the bits of the Monster Manaul II that stands out to me as one of stand out DYI D&D points of this book.


Here are my ten reasons why the Monster Manual II is still one of the cornerstones of not only AD&D but also our hobby.

1. The monsters are not only approachable and easy to use but also adventure unto themselves. The encounters with these creatures are memorable, easy to construct adventures around , and they're iconic in every sense of the word. . You get dozens upon dozens of demons, devils, undead, demodands, daemons, dragons, giants, and more.Many times there has been lots of urban legend heaped upon these monsters and its quite easy to go back to the source material to create your own spin on some very iconic horrors. 
2. There are many supposedly 'silly' monsters in the MMII, remember that even the silly ones can and will murder your PC's with impunity. Take for example the Modrons from the plane of Nirvana These are some the silliest monsters ever created, but have a lighthearted feel that 3rd edition lacks. And they are really dangerous as well as alien. 
3. Each and every monster has its own distinct flavor and style but these creatures appear in a variety of places they even have note next to each monster that indicates which book it can be found in the tables that not only list the monsters in this book, but also those in the original MM and Fiend Folio. This gives the DM plenty of adventure and creature fodder to play with for their own adventures. 
4. Its one of the seven 'must have' books  for all 1st edition players/DMs and that completeness makes the book worth holding onto even more. There's more then simple iconic and nostoglia involved here. The MMII brings lots of things to the table and that includes lots of adventure hooks scattered throughout the entries especially certain demonic and diabolic horrors, this book was a game changer in the way that we thought about the planes. 
5. This book expands and works so well with the first Monster Manual and Fiend Folio that for that reason this is another must have. The monsters are easy to use, a fast way to jazz up an adventure and can be used to highlight one another. In addition there are several tribes and creatures within these pages that will challenge a party like no other. 
6. Lots of the monsters in the MMII are easily converted over to any number of science fantasy or post apocalyptic worlds. Don't be afraid to add in mutations and adaptions for these monsters at the drop of a hat during world or setting building. There are many monsters with lots of additional uses in a wide variety of adventure settings. 
7. Many of these creatures are the horrors you bring out to end or challenge the jaded or know it all D&D players. Those folks who can quote chapter and verse because many of these horrors have been half forgotten today. Use these creatures for challenges and more for adventures. 
8. The MMII is one of the lower tier collector books out there and sells for as low as fifteen dollars, this makes it a very economic purchase for the money. There's lots and lots of utility in those pages over the years. 
9. Once again this is a book to thumb through if you need ideas for adventures with your players. The book is one of those that will have you coming back again and again to dip into its contents for adventure ideas. 
10.   The MM II has an excellent mix of extraplanar and standard horrors; so it will be suitable for any level campaign. However, I would recommend it especially highly if you were running a campaign that dealt with the various planes, there's lots of material to add into and spice up your own home brew adventures. This makes the MMII an easy fit for all kinds of weirdness.
    
    The bottom line is that the Monster Manual II doesn't get anywhere near enough of its due today for the monsters, devils, and incredible mix of monsters that it brings to the table. This book marks one of the legacies of Gary Gygax and has a ton of material to offer today's DM's. Grab a copy, dust it off, and start running your adventures the way you want to.

Commentary & Review of Mayfair Games Role Aids Module 'Shadows of Evil' by Stephen R. Bourne For Your Old School Campaigns.

"It was one of those missions that you instinctively knew would be trouble; one that will lead to a lot of blood spilled- yours. And it didn't help to have the villagers spreading rumors and making up stories. Sometimes being in the service of a Druid is not healthy, for even wile the sune shines bright, you're led into the SHADOWS OF EVIL"

717 Shadows of Evil is a ROLE AIDS Adventure For 3-6 Characters at Skill Levels 4 to 7. Suitable for use with Advanced Dungeons & Dragons*. Celtic Culture, Druidic Background, New Magic, Two Major Adventures from the back of cover of Shadows of Evil by  Stephen R. Bourne. Shadows of Evil by  Stephen R. Bourne came out in  Eighty Four. This is a fantasy Greco Roman Celtic adventure with some very dark undertones for various Druid covens in the adventure.

Shadows of Evil by  Stephen R. Bourne is a Greco Roman Celtic themed adventure with a core of  Roman Empire goodness; "Between 500 and 400 years B.C., the Celtic World was at its peak. Celtic culture covered most of Western Europe, including France, Britain, Germany, and the northern lowlands, and it extended eastward almost to the Black Sea. There seems to have been, however, a sharp line dividing it from the southern societies about the Mediterranean. The Celtic presence was more of a culture than an empire. The Celts lived in a very decentralized societyone might say that they had a stateless society. The first Celtic traces in Britain appear as early as 750 B.C., roughly corresponding to the late Bronze Age. The first tribes came from continental Europe, and by400 B.C. they were dominant throughout Britain. The Celts were an early Iron Age people, and with superior metallurgy for weapon-making, they swept through the country in a relatively short time. Although much of their culture and technology suggests otherwise, the Celts have been called "barbarians." Unfortunately, the word barbarian conveys images of uncivilized savages, naive primitives, and moral inferiors. Such was the view of the Romans and the Greeks who wrote about the Celts in their own time. When studying an ancient people who did not speak for themselves (through written records) it is important to understand the bias of others who wrote about them. Julius Caesar, for instance, left fascinating accounts of Celtic society. However, his account is suspect because he did not enter Britain in 56 B.C. to study the Celts, but to conquer them! In the main there are three sources of information on the Celts of Britain: Archaeological Evidence: ruins, unearthed tools, weapons and other diggings such as burial grounds or huts. Legends and Folklore: as found in various books such as the Irish vernacular texts written in medieval times (after 500 A.D.). These old Irish books represent the first attempt to record the Oral Celtic Tradition. Testimonials: from Greek and Roman scribes."

The basic adventure draws the characters into a world of dark irony &  Celtic magick. The cartography & layout is typical Mayfair Role Aids. Shadows of Evil by  Stephen R. Bourne  is the perfect adventure module to run with Castles & Crusades The Codex Celtarum. Seriously the dungeon master is gonna have to do a bit of a mix of systems but this is really where Castles & Crusades shines as a table top OSR semi clone Siege.



This module is Advanced Dungeons & Dragons evil druid heaven.  'Shadows of Evil by Stephen R. Bourne takes the PC's into the world of a very uneasy occupied Roman Britain. This makes  Shadows of Evil because its a module geared for first edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons lines up perfectly with Castles & Crusades Codex Classicum making this a perfect campaign line up with Stephen T. Bourne, & Martin F. King's module 'Evil Ruins'. I covered that review yesterday. 


There's more then enough room in Castles & Crusades to run the PC's through the full gauntlet of
of encounters & horrors to get a true feel for the awesomeness of  'Shadows of Evil' by Stephen R. Bourne.


Because this is a Roman occupied fantasy Britain in 'Shadows of Evil' by Stephen R. Bourne  this module could easily be ported over to Adventurer,Conqueror, King rpg's Auran Empire campaign setting. Roman occupied fantasy Britain becomes a vassal colony country of the Auran empire. The module moves along as planned & events play out with dire repercussions if the PC's are not careful. 


In Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcererers of Hyperborea rpg  'Shadows of Evil' by Stephen R. Bourne   takes on new connotations as the PC's have to navigate a former Hyperborean empire colony now manned & ruled by the human counterparts of the Hyperboreans. The Keltic elements & Druidic adventure bits take the PC's deep into the heart of a sore spot with the humans occupying the former lands of the Keltics.

 'Shadows of Evil' could be linked up with the basic events of the Swampgate community to draw attention to the plight of Keltic peoples within the former Hyperborean empire now human dominated. This makes the druids very nasty indeed with a very dark history. 
 'Shadows of Evil' by Stephen R. Bourne   isn't perfect but it fits the niche of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Celtic weirdness nicely. The second edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons book HR 3 Celtics while not necessary could be used as a far reaching addition to the Mayfair Role Aids module. HR 3 Celtics could give additional background, setting material, & even possible campaign expansion. 




All in all I found  'Shadows of Evil' by Stephen R. Bourne  to be a fun and enjoyable adventure romp with all of the Druidic danger & Celtic weirdness that I've come to expect from this underrated adventure writer & designer.

 'Shadows of Evil' by Stephen R. Bourne is available through Amazon right here! 

Commentary & Review of Mayfair Games Role Aids Module 'Evil Ruins' '83 For Your Old School Campaigns.

"Evil Ruins: An ancient terror among timeless ruins is an adventure set in an ancient Saxon/Celtic castle. Intended for 3 to 6 characters of 1st to 4th level, and is part of the Role Aids line of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons-compatible products."


Time & again over the years I've heard from various gamers that Mayfair Games Role Aids series never created any low level adventures. This is pure manure with Stephen T. Bourne, & Martin F. King's module 'Evil Ruins'. The striking cover art by Boris Vallejo has absolutely nothing to do with the module's adventure plot. The PC's are hired to clear out an ancient Saxon/Celtic castle.

This is a very cut & dry module clocking in at thirty two pages or is it? Evil Ruins has several interesting mistakes in the mapping like a missing set of stairs. A clever dungeon master can take advantage of this to add in to the module a few dungeon adventure elements to adapt Evil Ruins to their own home campaign game. Now Evil Ruins is intended for the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first edition game. The encounters are quick & to the point & the writing is crisp & I especially like the Arthurian angle; "The ruined castle at Tintagel (by-the-sea) actually exists in Cornwall, England. It is said to be the original site of King Arthur's castle. For the purposes of role-playing, the origins of this adventure predate the player characters' era by 400 years. By now Tintagel is in ruins, and yet it exerts a terrible and malevolent influence on the land. For miles and miles about the castle all settlements were destroyed and the land reverted back to a thick and dense forest. Now the castle stands practically buried in weeds and brambles 30 miles from the nearest inhabited place. The local secular authority (the Duke) is troubled and frustrated that so much of his land is adversely affected by this menace. Lately, a helpful retainer of the Duke has put him in touch with a religious retreat. The Duke is only too pleased to give the property to the religious order if they can first deal with the malevolence that abides there. It falls upon a cleric (from that religious order) to organize an expedition to confront and disperse the Evil in the castle"
Evil Ruins is an adventure from another era & it shows it in everything the module embodies. For me this is part of its charm & wit with many Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual favorites taking center stage whist an evil wizard lurks in the shadows.



Even though Evil Ruins is a basic module there's an advanced plot lurking in the background & several solid Arthurian leads that can be used to weave the module into your home campaign. For my money with the way that 'Evil Ruins' plays out I would reskin it over to the classic AD&D Greyhawk setting. 

Because 'Evil Ruins' clocks in at thirty four pages it has the potential to be used to kick off an easily established low level Arthurian campaign. Even though it comes off as nothing special with a bit of work Evil Ruins could be reworked into a completely weird late post Greco Roman/English post occupation Saxon  campaign. 'Evil Ruins' even includes a small grouping of towns,villages, and even an inn with a black smith. The history of the castle lends itself to all manner of campaign expansion; "Four hundred years before this adventure, the castle of Tintagel was the main northern outpost of the ancient Saxon Kings. It was built on the north shore of Cornwall, in the West Country of England. The castle belonged to Godwin, First Lord of the Realm and personal retainer of the King of the Gold Swords, Leefrick. Godwin played a crucial role in assisting Leefrick retain control of the realm after years of anarchy."

'Evil Ruins' isn't spectacular but with a bit of elbow grease this can go from being a four star module into a full on five star campaign starter. I would ruin Evil Ruins with either OSRIC or Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first edition.  Evil Ruins could even be run with the Lion & Dragon rpg. The module's castle is an Elven haunted ruin & the local authorities call in the PC's to clear it out.

For Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea 'Evil Ruins' becomes something else entirely. The module can be run from the ground up as a time lost portal in the Keltic countryside that leads to a Saxon England of Arthurian times. The PC's become embroiled in the power struggles of a time lost castle but in actuality. The castle is very real in the back bay of Keltic lands. This approach reflects the writings of Clark Ashton Smith approach. 'Evil Ruins' outcome affects the ruins of the castle in the present. Clever DM's will see what I mean with the module having further use as double location in present day Hyperborea.
'Evil Ruins' isn't perfect but with a little work 'Evil Ruins' could be used to jump start an OSR or old school campaign & keep it going for years.